Top Star

What makes the record particularly hard to explain away is where Top Star has been competing. Class 6 is the entry-level tier of British racing — these are the races designed for horses who are still learning the game or who have simply found their ceiling at a modest level. Top Star has had seven attempts at this standard and has not won a single one. That is not a horse being asked to punch above its weight; that is a horse struggling at the level that should suit it best.

The recent form offers a faint flicker of encouragement. Finishing fourth, then fifth, then fifth again in three of its last six races suggests the horse is at least competitive in the closing stages of races, even if the winner's enclosure remains out of reach. A tenth-place finish in that same recent run of six does cloud the picture somewhat, and the overall pattern — fourth, fifth, fifth, tenth, fourth, seventh — is the profile of a horse that rattles around the places without ever threatening to win. It raced just one day ago, so this is a horse very much in active training and clearly being kept busy by the Ivory yard, which has sent out seven winners already this season.

Dean Ivory is a trainer who knows how to place a horse to win — seven winners from the current season is solid, consistent work. The fact that Top Star has not been among them, despite racing regularly, suggests the yard is still hunting for the right opportunity. Whether that moment arrives before the 4-year-old's season closes is the question worth watching.