Al Haarith

What gives the profile some real interest is who is doing the training. Joseph Patrick O'Brien, operating out of Owning Hill in County Kilkenny, has sent out 155 winners already this season — a figure that puts the yard among the most productive in the sport. When a stable is firing at that kind of volume, even a horse without a win on its record is worth paying attention to, because the team clearly knows what it is doing and when to run a horse.

The other factor here is the gap since Al Haarith last raced — roughly six months, which is a significant break for a young horse still finding its feet. Horses can come back from a rest transformed, having had time to fill out physically and mentally. Or they can come back needing a race to blow away the cobwebs. At two years old, with only three races in the book, there is still plenty of story left to write. The next time Al Haarith lines up will be worth watching closely.