Hawthorn Street

That win at Catterick Bridge in February is the headline so far. Catterick is a tight, turning track that suits horses who are switched on and nimble rather than those who need a long straight to wind up — so winning there suggests Hawthorn Street has a bit of sharpness about him. His recent form reading — a blank, then fourth, then the win, then two fourths before that — shows a horse who has been knocking on the door consistently enough that the victory felt earned rather than lucky.

He's trained by Jonjo and A J O'Neill, the father-and-son operation based near Cheltenham, and it's a yard that clearly knows what it's doing right now — 51 winners already this season is a serious number, the kind of output that means they're placing their horses well and getting them fit to perform. Earlier in the season, the trainer was candid that Hawthorn Street hadn't had a smooth run the previous year, but felt encouraged by what he showed on his first try over hurdles at Doncaster in January. The plan, as stated then, was to use a longer-distance hurdle race as a stepping stone before eventually going over fences — and that patience appears to have paid off with the Catterick win. With that win coming just two months ago and the horse still active, there's every reason to think the story isn't close to finished.