Lambourn

He has won 4 of his last 6 races, and his recent form reads 1-4-5-1-1-1 — three wins on the bounce before a couple of slightly flat efforts, and then back to winning again. That sequence is worth looking at closely. The trainer Aidan O'Brien, whose yard at Cashel in Tipperary has sent out 144 winners already this season, offered some candid insight after the York run: the pace was all wrong for Lambourn, who thrives when races are run at a proper tempo over a mile and a half. When everything clicks, the horse travels beautifully and picks up smoothly. When it doesn't, you see a different picture.

There is also one striking number that deserves attention: Lambourn has won every single race he has run on normal ground — 5 from 5, a perfect record. That is not a coincidence; it tells you exactly the conditions in which he is at his best, and the team around him know it.

The plan heading into this season was always the Coronation Cup, one of the most prestigious middle-distance races in Britain, with a run beforehand to sharpen him up. He duly won at Chester earlier this month, and now races again just one day ago — currently active and clearly in good order. His jockey Sean Levey has flagged a small question mark about whether Lambourn truly stays the longest distances, but on what he has shown over a mile and a half in top company, he remains one of the most interesting horses in training right now.