La Tene

The recent form makes for mixed reading. A tenth-place finish is as bad as it sounds, but a third place shows La Tene can get competitive when things click — and a ninth suggests the level of consistency simply hasn't been there. The dashes in that sequence mean unplaced runs where the horse didn't figure, which is more common than not at this point of its career. Raced just yesterday, so this is a horse very much in the thick of things right now.

Trainer John Patrick Ryan operates out of Templemore in County Tipperary and has had 21 winners on the board this season, which shows the yard knows how to prepare a winner. The question is whether La Tene can become one of them. At eight years old, the clock isn't exactly on this horse's side, but horses of this age can still find their moment — especially if the yard find the right race at the right time. The talent is clearly there to place, which means the winning post isn't a fantasy, just elusive.