Beautiful Diamond

The broader numbers back up how good this horse is. Across 14 races in total, Beautiful Diamond has won 4 times and finished in the top three on 10 occasions — a win rate of 29%, or roughly 1 in every 3.5 races. For context, most good racehorses win somewhere between 1 in 5 and 1 in 6, so that is an impressive return. Almost all of its racing has come in top-level company: three of those four wins have come in Class 1 races, the very best races in Britain. This is not a horse finding easy pickings in lower-grade contests.

Ground makes a significant difference. On fast, dry ground, Beautiful Diamond has won 2 from 3 — a 67% win rate, or two-thirds of its races in those conditions. The team have learnt this the hard way. After a difficult run at Newmarket where the firm ground left the horse badly jarred up, they had to take their time and essentially start again. When they got Beautiful Diamond back to softer, kinder ground at Ayr last September, it delivered immediately. That experience seems to have sharpened the team's thinking about where and when to run this horse. Jockey Clifford Lee, who has partnered the horse for 12 of its 14 races, has spoken about simply letting Beautiful Diamond roll along and trusting its natural pace — which, everyone agrees, is considerable.

At five years old and with a run just 25 days ago, Beautiful Diamond is very much mid-campaign. Burke is one of British racing's most productive trainers — his yard has sent out 140 winners already this season, which is a remarkable volume — and he has been clear that the plan is to target Group-level races over the minimum distance of five furlongs, where raw speed counts for everything. The ambition is plain: a horse that has proved itself at the top level three years running is not being aimed at soft targets. The team believes there is a big prize still to be won.