Esperti

The wider career record backs up the idea of a horse with real ability, even if it does not always come out. Seven wins and 14 placed efforts from 33 races, with £74,000 in prize money, speaks to a consistent performer at a solid level — most of his racing has come in Class 5 company, where he has won 3 from 15, a 20% win rate that holds up well. His recent form is hard to argue with: two wins from his last six runs, with two runner-up finishes thrown in as well.

Part of what makes Esperti tick is how he is ridden. Assistant trainer Callum Griffiths has been candid about the fact that he is not the most straightforward horse to train, and the key is getting him settled. Sean Bowen, who rides out of the same Welsh community as the Rees yard in Clarbeston, Pembrokeshire, understands the horse better than most. The two have produced 3 wins together from 10 races — that is 30%, or nearly 1 in every 3 — which is significantly better than Esperti's overall average. When Griffiths has questions, he picks up the phone to the Bowen family, who also let the yard use their gallops. It is a close-knit arrangement and it clearly works.

David Rees has sent out 3 winners from his yard this season, and Esperti accounts for a fair share of the team's momentum right now. He raced just yesterday, so he is very much in the thick of things. A horse who has found his groove at a specific track, with a jockey who knows exactly how to ride him — and in the kind of form where second place feels like a minor setback — is exactly the kind of horse worth following into the summer.