Weston

The recent form makes for interesting reading. Weston ran just one day ago and is clearly a horse in active work, but the last six races paint a mixed picture: a solid third, then a string of mid-field finishes in the teens, before bouncing back to third again most recently. That kind of inconsistency — capable of finishing third one week, then dropping out of contention the next — is the puzzle its trainer H Rogers at the Ardee yard in Co. Louth will be trying to solve. The yard has sent out six winners this season, so there is form there, and Weston is clearly considered worth persisting with.

What stands out most, though, is the raw number: 19 races without a win is a long road. At seven years old, Weston is not young, and every race that passes without a first win makes the next one feel a little heavier. The four placed finishes are something — they show a horse that tries, that gets involved — but in racing, place money only goes so far. At some point, a horse like this needs to convert. Whether Weston has that win in it remains the question that keeps the yard — sorry, that keeps the Rogers yard — coming back to the track.