Yachtsman

That May success at Windsor remains the peak so far. Five months have passed since, and recent form has been patchy: a fourth-place finish last time out, before that a ninth, another fourth, eighth, and ninth before that. It is the kind of inconsistent run you see from a horse still learning, one that shows flashes of promise without yet putting it together regularly. Trainer Jack Morland's Newmarket yard has sent out 14 winners this season, so there is proven quality on the premises, but Yachtsman has not yet found the consistency to challenge in the top divisions. When the horse steps up to Class 5 company — the toughest races it has tackled — the record is blank: 0 wins from 3 attempts. That is telling. Yachtsman is a horse still finding its level, one that lights up at the sharp end of races over five or six and a half furlongs but has not yet become the kind of horse that wins regularly enough to be called reliable. Still active and racing as recently as yesterday, there is time for that to change, but so far it remains a project rather than a prospect.