Keops Des Bordes

His record so far reads simply: fourth on debut, then second on his most recent outing. That runner-up finish came in a race last December where Dan Skelton's team genuinely expected him to win — he'd been doing everything right at home and looked the part. He was beaten, but by a horse who turned out to be a decent one, so there's no embarrassment in it. Finishing second to a good horse when you're inexperienced tells you something useful: it tells you the ability is there.

Skelton, whose yard at Alcester in Warwickshire has sent out 194 winners already this season — a number that puts them firmly among the elite training operations in the country — describes Keops Des Bordes as looking every inch a long-term stayer with a real future as a chaser. That last word is the key one. Hurdling, for this horse, appears to be the apprenticeship. The bigger fences, the staying distances, the tests that separate genuine horses from ordinary ones — that's where Skelton sees him eventually thriving. He's been explicit about it: he expects to be excited about this horse this time next year.

For a horse with just two races to his name, that's a meaningful vote of confidence from someone who knows exactly what a chaser-in-waiting looks like. Worth keeping the name noted.