Tiggerelli

The recent form makes for tough reading. Six consecutive finishes in sixth place or worse, with a ninth thrown in for good measure — a sequence so consistent in its disappointment that it almost becomes its own kind of achievement. At Class 4 level, which sits in the lower-middle tier of British racing, Tiggerelli has tried three times and found the winner's enclosure completely out of reach on every occasion.

The one genuinely bright spot in this picture is the yard sending the horse out. Trainer Ewan Whillans, based up in Hawick in the Scottish Borders, has had 28 winners on the board this season — that is a team clearly capable of getting horses ready to perform. When a trainer of that productivity keeps running a horse, it usually means they believe there is something worth finding. Whether Tiggerelli can find it is the open question, but the fact that it raced just yesterday suggests nobody has given up on the search yet.