Vina Ardanza

What makes that sole victory at Thurles worth remembering is what Gordon Elliott said afterwards. He felt Vina Ardanza had actually run better than the narrow margin suggested, noting the horse was still a little raw and inexperienced that day, and that the performance was probably underselling him. Elliott pointed towards spring and summer as the ideal time for him, specifically flagging that wet, wintry ground was not his friend — which makes it all the more interesting that so much of his subsequent career appears to have been spent chasing form he never quite recaptured. By early 2023, Elliott was still talking about him with genuine belief, suggesting he was better suited to longer distances than two miles and mentioning a competitive near-miss at Naas as evidence the ability was still there.

The problem is that belief and results are two different things. His last six runs have produced nothing better than a fifth-place finish, with a pair of sixth places and an eighth thrown in for good measure. When Davy Russell takes the ride, the picture brightens slightly — together they have won 1 from 5 races, a win rate of 20%, which translates to roughly 1 in every 5 races as a partnership. That is a meaningful number compared to the overall career record, and suggests Russell at least knows how to get something out of him.

At nine years old, Vina Ardanza is not a young horse with time on his side. The talent Elliott spoke about so confidently two years ago has never fully shown itself on a racecourse, and the clock is ticking. He raced just one day ago, so the team clearly still believes there is something to find. Whether they are right is the question that has been hanging over this horse for the best part of five years.