L'Appel Du Large

What gives the story some optimism is who is doing the training. N W Alexander, based up in Leslie, Fife, has sent out 19 winners already this season — that's a yard in decent form, and horses trained there tend to be placed with races they can be competitive in. Having a live, active trainer with a productive season behind them matters: it means L'Appel Du Large is not simply making up the numbers, but part of a functioning operation that knows how to get horses winning.

At just five years old and with only three races to its name, there is still plenty of time for things to click. Some horses take longer than others to figure out what is being asked of them, and three races is a very small sample. The next run — and given it raced just yesterday, that will come soon enough — will be worth watching to see whether the team can find the right opportunity to unlock something better.