Ancient Rome

What makes Ancient Rome's form more interesting than the numbers alone suggest is the talent his trainer still sees beneath the surface. Hills has described him as "undoubtedly talented" and noted that an injury towards the end of last season set him back. The horse is big, takes time to get ready, and has been operated on long stretches away from racing — the kind of physical issues that can dull a career without ever killing the ability underneath. When he does race, jockey Jamie Spencer, who rides him regularly, reports that Ancient Rome is infuriatingly lazy on track: he'll accelerate when asked but only for a few strides before slipping back into idle mode, even in the closing stages of a race. That's the character flaw holding him back. His Goodwood win came when the race "fell into his lap in the last furlong" and he simply had to coast home.

The real testament to Ancient Rome's underlying class is where he has raced. Bred in Kentucky, a War Front horse who runs well on fast, dry ground, he competed extensively in France before joining Hills. He is adaptable to softer conditions too, though his pedigree suggests he is a genuine runner on quick turf. His most recent races show scattered placings — fourth, ninth, seventh — the kind of form that suggests he is still engaged but rarely clicking. At seven years old, with 37 months since his last win and no victories in his last six races, Ancient Rome is a horse of unrealized potential: talented enough to win at the top level, but too lazy and too often off the boil to do it often.