Velvet Vulcan

What makes Velvet Vulcan's career interesting is not the winning, but the near-misses. Eight places from 36 races tells you this is a horse that regularly gets involved and finishes in the mix — it just struggles to land the final blow. The recent form bears that out: in its last six runs, the horse has finished second, fourth, sixth, sixth, and third, showing enough consistency to suggest it is not out of its depth, even if the winning feeling remains elusive. Class 6 is the level where Velvet Vulcan spends most of its time, and even there, it has won just once from 22 races — one in every 22 attempts at that tier.

The longer distances suit it best. Over one mile six furlongs to two miles, Velvet Vulcan has won 1 from 15 races — that 7% win rate is modest in absolute terms, but it is more than double the overall career figure, which tells you the horse at least finds its rhythm when asked to stay and grind. Jockey Daniel Muscutt has taken the ride seven times without a win together, though that may say more about the horse's general reluctance to win than any particular mismatch between the two.

Trained by R Mike Smith out of Galston in East Ayrshire, Velvet Vulcan is part of a yard that has sent out 25 winners this season — so the team clearly knows how to get horses to the winner's enclosure. With Lingfield Park already on the scoreboard, the yard will know exactly the conditions that suit. Whether Velvet Vulcan can find its way back there, or find another Lingfield-shaped opportunity elsewhere, is the question the next few months will answer.