Ecclefechan

The recent run of form makes for interesting reading. A second place in there shows Ecclefechan can genuinely threaten to win, but the string of fourths and fifths around it suggests a horse that finds a way to do just enough to stay involved without doing quite enough to take the spoils. It raced just yesterday, so this is very much a horse in the thick of its season right now.

What makes the record particularly striking is where Ecclefechan has been asked to do it. Three of its ten races have come at Class 2 level — meaning some of the better races in Britain — and it has not won any of them. That is a tough ask for any three-year-old, and the fact it has been placed at all in that company suggests the horse has genuine ability. Trainer John Ryan, based at Newmarket, has sent out 11 winners this season from his yard, so there is clearly form in the camp. Whether Ecclefechan can finally add its name to that tally remains the question everyone around the yard will be keen to answer.