La Pinsonniere

The numbers tell an interesting story. She has won just 1 in every 9 races, which sounds modest, but her recent sequence of 9-2-3-3-2-2 shows a horse that is nearly always competitive and rarely out of contention. Racing at the top level — the biggest Class 1 races — she has yet to win in three attempts, which is not a disgrace when you consider that these are the best races in Britain and simply finishing in the top three there is an achievement for most horses.

What makes her profile genuinely encouraging is what Henderson has said about her. He believes her two second-place finishes last season — in a mares' final at Newbury and a listed race at Cheltenham — were standout performances, and he clearly rates her highly. He also thinks she will be better suited by faster, drier ground than she has sometimes encountered, which matters because it suggests there is a stronger version of this horse still waiting to be seen.

Her regular partner in the saddle is Nico de Boinville, one of the best jump jockeys in Britain, and together they have won 1 from 7 races — roughly 1 in every 7 outings. That the yard has sent out 90 winners this season tells you this is one of the most successful training operations in the country, and horses here tend to be placed in the right races at the right time.

Henderson has also signalled that a switch to chasing — jumping bigger, more demanding fences — is on the horizon. That is often where horses who have shown consistent promise but not yet fulfilled it find a new gear entirely. La Pinsonniere has the profile of a horse being carefully managed towards a bigger opportunity, and with the right conditions underfoot, she looks capable of adding to that solitary win.