Whatafoolbelieves

The recent form tells a similarly tough story. Looking at the last six runs — placings of 19th, 9th, 12th, and three unfinished efforts — this is a horse that has struggled to land a blow at any point. Finishing 19th in a race is the kind of result that makes you wonder whether something went wrong on the day, but when it forms part of a pattern, it's harder to explain away.

What keeps this mildly interesting is the yard behind the horse. John C McConnell, training out of Stamullen in County Meath, has sent out 36 winners already this season — that's a yard in fine form, with plenty of horses performing. McConnell clearly knows what he's doing, which raises the question of what he sees in Whatafoolbelieves that keeps the horse in training. Sometimes a trainer spots something in a horse at home that the racecourse hasn't rewarded yet. Whether that patience will ever be justified is the open question — but the horse did race just yesterday, so at least the team hasn't given up yet.