Takarengo

That single win came at The Curragh in July 2022, now almost four years ago, and nothing has come close since. In the last six races, Takarengo has not won, and the recent form figures include a couple of pulls-up, which means the horse did not finish on those occasions. The best recent efforts have been a fourth and a fifth, suggesting there is still some ability there, even if winning looks a long way off. The horse raced just one day ago, so this is very much an active campaign.

The distances where Takarengo shows most promise — between a mile and six furlongs and two miles — have produced that one win from 15 races at those trips, a 7% win rate. That is a meaningful improvement on the overall career average, which tells you the team at least has the trip figured out. James M Barcoe trains from Gowran in County Kilkenny, a yard that has sent out seven winners already this season, so the operation is in decent form even if this particular horse has been hard to win with. Danny Mullins, who has ridden Takarengo nine times, is still looking for his first win aboard the horse.

At 10 years old, with one win from 58 starts, Takarengo is the kind of horse that fills out a field and keeps showing up — and there is something quietly admirable about that consistency, even when the wins do not come.