The Monkey Pole

The most recent run came just yesterday, which means this is a horse very much in the thick of its campaign right now. With a record of zero wins and two places from five races, The Monkey Pole has placed in 2 out of every 5 races it has entered — respectable for a horse still searching for its moment, but the team will know that places only count for so much. That ninth-place finish in the middle of the sequence is the one that stands out for the wrong reasons, sandwiched between two second-place efforts as if to underline how inconsistent the picture can be at this level.

At six years old, the clock isn't exactly ticking, but there is a sense that a first win needs to come sooner rather than later to justify keeping the horse in training. The positive read on all of this is straightforward: a horse that finishes second twice in five races clearly has ability. The challenge for the trainer is finding the right opportunity to turn that ability into a result.