Up The Jazz

The recent form tells a mixed story. Up The Jazz was placed just two days ago (a fifth), but before that showed real grit — winning at Musselburgh two months back on 22 June, and collecting another place at the same track a couple of weeks before that. It seems to like Musselburgh, which is worth noting. What jumps out, though, is that despite regular rides from Oisin Orr, a talented jockey, the pair has never crossed the line first together across 13 attempts. That is a curious mismatch. When the horse does win, it wins at smaller tracks and lower-grade races — the sort of place where effort and a bit of luck count for more than raw class.

The one thing holding this horse back is how it struggles when stepped up to Class 4 company: zero wins from 14 races at that level. It looks happier competing in smaller races where it can use its best distance and track knowledge to scrape a victory. For a horse in its fifth season with just four wins to its name, that is survival, and survival is what Up The Jazz does best.