Vilaine Verlaine

Both of those wins came at Chelmsford, the first in October 2024 and the second in December 2024, and both came at a distance of around a mile and a quarter to a mile and a half. At that trip, Vilaine Verlaine has won 2 from 4 races — that's a 50% win rate, which is extraordinary. Half the time this horse runs at its preferred distance, it wins. The challenge is that it hasn't always been given the chance to race there, and when it has been asked to do something different, it hasn't found the same answers.

The recent form makes for slightly mixed reading: the last six runs read 6-10-5-2-4-1 (most recent first), which means a finish outside the top five has been the most common outcome lately. That sixth-place finish the other day — it raced just yesterday — is the freshest line in the book, and it follows a run of results that suggest the horse is knocking on the door without quite breaking through. The second place in that sequence is the most tantalising — close, but not close enough.

Mark Usher's yard has been in decent nick this season, sending out 14 winners, so the team clearly has horses in form. Vilaine Verlaine has primarily competed at Class 5 level — the bread and butter of British racing — but has yet to win at that grade in 5 attempts, which is a curious quirk given it has managed to win races. Both victories came under slightly different conditions, which suggests the horse may be more track-specific than class-specific. It loves Chelmsford. It loves the middle distances. Get those two things right, and you have a horse capable of winning. Get them wrong, and you're probably watching it finish sixth.

The last win was 17 months ago now, which is a long wait. But the ingredients for another are still there — they just need to align.