Walking On Air

The two wins tell an interesting story, though. The first came at Newbury in January 2022, and the second — the bigger one — at Exeter in February 2023, which was a top-level Class 2 race. Winning one of the better races in Britain shows that Walking On Air is not short of talent when everything clicks. The trouble is that it has not clicked since. In the six races that have followed that Exeter win, the best result has been a third place, and the most recent run produced an eleventh. The direction of travel is not encouraging.

When Nico de Boinville has been in the saddle, however, the picture looks quite different. The pair have won 2 of their 5 races together — that is a 40% win rate, which is a remarkable number at any level of racing. For context, a jockey winning 2 in every 5 rides on the same horse suggests a real partnership, a horse that responds to a particular style or rhythm. The fact that both of Walking On Air's career wins came during that partnership is not a coincidence worth ignoring.

The regular class of race the horse competes in — Class 3, one step below the very top tier — has been a stumbling block. Six races at that level, zero wins. It may be that the Exeter victory was something of a peak performance, or that the horse simply needs conditions to fall perfectly. Trainer Faye Bramley's yard has been in fine form this season with 18 winners sent out, so the platform is there if Walking On Air can rediscover its best.

At nine years old and with a last run just 19 days ago, this horse is still active and clearly still being aimed at decent targets. Whether it can turn a third place in recent form into something more is the question. The Exeter win proves it can — the current form suggests it needs to find something extra to do it again.