Explosive Finnish

Trained by Kevin Frost out of Averham Park in Nottinghamshire, Explosive Finnish is part of a yard that has been in good form this season — 25 winners is a solid return and suggests Frost knows how to place his horses to give them a chance. The fact that this one keeps finishing in the frame, even without winning, means it is probably doing its job and earning its keep. Not every horse needs to win to be useful — placed horses still collect prize money and tell the trainer something about where the horse belongs.

What is harder to ignore is the consistency of those third-place finishes. Three times in a row, it has come home in the same position — not outclassed, not falling apart, just not finding enough when it matters most. That is either a horse finding its ceiling, or one that needs the right race to come along. At this stage of a young horse's career, that question is still genuinely open.