The dip is stark when you look at the numbers side by side. Last year Forster was winning at around 7 in every 100 races — modest, but it meant winners were coming. This season that figure has fallen to zero from 50 attempts, and the most recent two weeks have brought five more runners without a result to show for it. At some point a blank run stops being a rough patch and starts raising questions about what has changed, and 50 races is a significant sample.
The most-used partnership this season has been with jockey Patrick Wadge, who has ridden 19 times for the yard without a win between them. Nineteen rides is enough to call it a genuine working relationship rather than a one-off arrangement, which makes the lack of a result all the more frustrating for both sides. Similarly, the horse Rock N Roll Champ has run 15 times for Forster without winning — 15 races is a long haul, and it suggests that particular combination simply has not clicked yet.
There are 23 career winners on the board, and that matters. It means Forster knows how to get a horse ready to win, and has done it before. The question for anyone following the yard right now is simply: when does the drought end?
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kelso | 14 | 0 | 0% |
| Hexham | 13 | 0 | 0% |
| Carlisle | 7 | 0 | 0% |
| Musselburgh | 7 | 0 | 0% |
| Ayr | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Newcastle | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Sedgefield | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Perth | 1 | 0 | 0% |