White Smoke

The recent form tells a more complicated story. After those two second-place efforts, White Smoke's performances have become patchier: fifth, then ninth, then fourth, then thirteenth most recently. That dip in consistency is the kind of thing that will be keeping the team up at night. A horse finishing second twice and then drifting as far back as thirteenth suggests it is still working out exactly what racing is asking of it — not unusual at three, when horses are still maturing and learning their trade, but frustrating all the same.

The trainer is M C Grassick, operating out of Curragh in Co. Kildare — the heartland of Irish racing, right beside one of the country's most famous tracks. The yard has sent out six winners already this season, so there is clearly ability in the string. Getting White Smoke to convert its potential into an actual victory will be one of the tasks on Grassick's to-do list. The horse raced just yesterday, so it is very much in active campaign mode.

Zero wins from six races is a straightforward number, but it doesn't automatically mean a horse is hopeless — plenty of decent horses take time to find their feet and then reel off a run of wins once everything clicks. For White Smoke, the question is whether those early placed efforts were a sign of what's coming, or whether the more recent struggles represent the truer picture.