Vaguely Royal

The horse really comes alive over the longer distances. At races between a mile and six furlongs and two miles, Vaguely Royal has won 4 of 13 races — that's nearly one in every three, a win rate of 31 percent. That is the sort of statistic that makes a trainer take notice. When Ian Williams, who trains the horse at his Portway yard in Worcestershire, sends Vaguely Royal out to these distances, there is genuine reason to believe it can win. Over shorter distances or in the tougher Class 2 and Class 3 races that make up most of its calendar, the horse struggles. In Class 4 races — the lower tier — it has managed just one win from 11 attempts.

Kieran Shoemark, the jockey most often seen aboard Vaguely Royal, has ridden the horse eight times and won twice, a win rate of one in four. That kind of partnership between horse and rider matters. The horse's last outing was just yesterday, so it is still actively racing. Its most recent win came three months ago at York on 24 July — a reminder that while consistency is its hallmark, it remains capable of finding the winner's enclosure. For a horse with modest earning power and a mid-range win rate, Vaguely Royal is exactly what it appears: a dependable sort that will give its the yard a fair day's work, especially when conditions suit and distances are long.