Brookie

The key to understanding Brookie is ground and class. On normal ground conditions, he has won 3 of 8 races — nearly 4 in every 10 — which is a seriously impressive ratio at any level. Ask him to race on wet or muddy ground and it is a different story entirely. His trainer Anthony Honeyball was candid about this: Brookie was getting shoved along by the third fence at Ascot when the rain had made conditions heavy, and it was the first time in a long while he had looked ordinary. Honeyball's instinct was to go back to Doncaster, and that kind of track-and-ground management is exactly why the Mosterton yard — which has sent out 51 winners this season — is worth paying attention to. At Class 3 level specifically, Brookie has won half his races: 3 from 6. That is a horse in the right races at the right level.

His regular jockey Peter Carberry has ridden him 10 times without winning together, which is a curious quirk given how capable Brookie clearly is. Ben Godfrey, who rode him at Doncaster in March, was straightforward about why it worked that day: the conditions were right, the horse had been freshened up after a tough assignment against a top rival at Kempton, and it clicked. Rider Sam Twiston-Davies was equally measured after a run at Sandown, noting that Brookie had jumped safely and another day would come.

That last win was 14 months ago now, and his recent form figures make for uncomfortable reading — he has not threatened the winner in his last six races. But Brookie is trained at a yard in form, loves fast ground as summer approaches, and has already shown he can win at a high level this season. The ingredients for another big day are still very much there.