Woody Y Fernandez

The recent form makes for interesting reading. In the last six races, Woody Y Fernandez has finished third, tenth, third, fifth, eighth, and second — a pattern that suggests a horse capable of running well on its day but unable to string together the consistency needed to get its nose in front. Five places from 12 races overall means it has given punters something to cheer roughly once in every two or three runs, which is not nothing. It just has not been enough.

The challenge is that most of those races have come at Class 6, which is the entry level of British racing — the races where you would expect a horse of this profile to be competitive. And yet, zero wins from eight attempts at that level is a stubborn statistic. It is not being outclassed; it is just being outrun at the finish. Whether that changes with age and experience is the question Stephen Hanlon and his yard at Constable Burton will be asking themselves. The North Yorkshire stable has sent out three winners this season, so they know what a winner looks like — and they are still running this horse, which counts for something.

At three, there is still time. Horses can take a while to mature, and some simply need more races before the pieces click into place. For now, Woody Y Fernandez is one of those horses that reminds you how hard winning actually is — even at the humblest level of the sport.