Union Park

The drought, though, is worth noting. Union Park has not won since Cork in November 2023 — that is 29 months ago now, and it has gone six races without a win in its most recent spell of form. The last six results make for fairly sobering reading: a 13th, a 6th, a 4th, a 7th, and two more 6ths. There is the odd glimmer in there — that 4th suggests it is not completely out of ideas — but it is clearly finding winning beyond it at the moment.

One relationship that stands out, for the wrong reasons, is the partnership with jockey Simon Torrens. Nine races together and not a single win between them — that is 0 from 9, which by any measure is a combination still waiting for its moment. It is not necessarily anyone's fault; some pairings simply take time to click, and in a sport where margins are thin, sometimes the chemistry just is not there yet.

Trainer P J Rothwell, based in Tinahely in County Wicklow, is clearly having a productive season — 36 winners sent out this term is a strong return for any yard, showing the operation knows how to get horses to the track in form. Union Park, raced just yesterday, is clearly being kept busy, which suggests the team still believe there is something left to find with this horse. Whether a 10-year-old with a 29-month winless streak can rediscover that spark is the question — but given that Rothwell's yard is firing on all cylinders, it would be unwise to completely write Union Park off.