Esplanade

Esplanade has yet to trouble the judge in three career starts and is searching for a breakthrough. The 3-year-old is trained by Charles Hills at his Lambourn yard, which has been in good form this season with 29 winners already sent out. Recent efforts suggest Esplanade is being tested at competitive levels — recent placings show fifth, sixth, and eleventh across the last three races — and with just one day since that eleventh-place finish, the horse is being kept active. Whether the experience of multiple runs will click into something tangible remains to be seen.