Alcanzor

That said, the surroundings are encouraging. Alcanzor is trained by Tim Easterby at his Great Habton yard in North Yorkshire, one of the most productive operations in British racing right now. With 126 winners already on the board this season, Easterby's team clearly knows how to place horses to win — so if Alcanzor has run three times without finding the right opportunity yet, that is worth keeping in mind. Yards that fire out winners at that volume tend to be patient and purposeful with their horses.

At three years old, Alcanzor is still a young horse with room to develop, and it would be premature to write him off on the strength of three runs. Many horses take time to work out what racing is actually asking of them. What matters now is whether the team can find a race that suits — and with Easterby's record this season, you would not bet against them working it out.