Hasita

The most encouraging thing in Hasita's profile is actually the earliest entry: a third-place finish, which shows there is ability there, even if it has proved frustratingly difficult to pin down since. The slide from third to eighth to twelfth over the last three races is the kind of trajectory that raises questions, and right now those questions don't have easy answers. Horses at this age are still developing, still learning what racing asks of them, and inconsistency is not unusual — but the direction of travel is something the team will want to reverse.

What does work in Hasita's favour is the yard behind her. J P Murtagh trains out of Coolaghknock Glebe in County Kildare, and this season the operation has been in serious form — 54 winners already, which is the output of a stable firing on all cylinders. When a yard is producing winners at that kind of volume, you pay attention to every horse it puts on the track, even the ones still searching for their moment. Murtagh clearly knows how to get horses to perform, and that matters.

Hasita raced just one day ago, so she is very much a horse in the middle of her campaign. At three years old, with only three races behind her, the picture is still being painted. Some horses take time to work out what they're doing and then click into gear — and with a trainer who has sent out 54 winners this season standing in her corner, the opportunity is certainly there.