Ethical Diamond

The key to understanding Ethical Diamond lies in two specific strengths. First, he absolutely thrives at distance — he has won three of his last three races over 1m6f to 2m, a perfect record at that trip that makes him almost a different horse when the track stretches out. Second, he is a creature of fast, dry ground; on those surfaces he wins half his races, compared to a much murkier picture elsewhere. Trainer W P Mullins, who runs the powerhouse Co Carlow yard that has sent out 215 winners this season, has clearly worked out the formula: get him on a fast track at a distance that suits him, and Ethical Diamond performs. The recent victories suggest the penny has finally dropped.

One caution sits alongside the optimism. Ethical Diamond has never won at the very top level — he is 0 for 3 in Class 1 races, the sport's elite tier — which means there is a ceiling to how far he can climb. Yet that has not stopped Mullins from planning big. Fresh back from a campaign in America, the trainer is mapping a path toward Dubai while keeping hurdle racing in reserve. For a horse who wins roughly one race in every three, and who has only just figured out how to be truly dangerous, that ambition feels earned rather than fanciful.