White Smoke

The recent form makes for mixed reading. A fourth place two runs ago offered a glimpse of promise, but a seventh last time out and a twelfth two races before that suggest inconsistency is the real obstacle here. Horses at this stage of their career — still only three years old — can be frustratingly up and down, running well one day and disappearing from contention the next. White Smoke fits that pattern almost perfectly.

The horse raced just one day ago, which means it is right in the thick of an active campaign. Trainer M C Grassick operates out of Curragh in Co. Kildare — the heartland of Irish racing — and the yard has sent out six winners already this season, so there is form and confidence around the stable. Whether White Smoke can tap into that remains the question. At some point, a horse with this much racing experience needs to start converting those near-misses into something more. Nine races is a decent education. The next chapter needs to look different.