Lequinto

That dominance showed no sign of fading last week, when Lequinto won at Windsor — its most recent race, run just days ago. The current form reads 1-3-2-2, meaning it has finished first or second in four of its last five completed races. For a nine-year-old with 57 races on the clock, that is not a horse running out of ideas; that is a horse hitting a purple patch.

Part of the story is conditions. On fast, dry ground Lequinto becomes a different proposition entirely — 6 wins from just 11 races on a quick surface, which works out at 55%, or better than 1 in 2. That is a horse that genuinely thrives when the sun has been out. Trainer Tony Carroll, based in Cropthorne in Worcestershire, knows his horses well, and his yard has been in outstanding form this season, sending out 136 winners. Carroll briefly admitted last summer that a run at Windsor had left him scratching his head — Lequinto finished last of eight and Carroll felt it should have shown more — but whatever questions were raised then have been emphatically answered since.

The partnership with jockey Matthew Lloyd Slater is worth noting too. In 12 races together they have won 4, a win rate of 33% — or roughly 1 in every 3 rides. That is a meaningful working relationship in a sport where most jockey-horse combinations win far less often than that.

Across a 57-race career, Lequinto has won 9 times and hit the frame on 20 other occasions. It tends to operate at Class 4, the bread-and-butter level of British racing, where it has won 2 from 15. The Windsor numbers, though, are what you remember. Some horses are good. Some horses find a home.