Timebar

What makes it a curious case is that Timebar is competing at Class 6, which is the bottom rung of British racing — these are the races designed to give horses exactly like Timebar a realistic shot at winning. And yet, across nine attempts at that level, the result has been the same every time: placed, beaten, or further back. Its most regular partner, jockey Lewis Edmunds, has ridden it nine times without a win between them, which suggests this isn't a horse that's simply been unlucky with who's been in the saddle.

The recent form line — second, eighth, second, fourth, third, fifth — actually shows a horse that is competitive more often than not. Two seconds and a third in the last six races means Timebar has been involved in the finish, running into horses that were just a touch better on the day. That eighth-place finish is the outlier. A Bowring yard that has sent out five winners this season clearly knows how to get a horse to the line first, which will only sharpen the focus on finding the right opportunity for Timebar. It raced just yesterday, so this is very much a horse in active training with more chances to come. The first win, when it arrives, will have been a long time coming.