Looks Fantastic

What is encouraging is the distance profile. At seven furlongs to a mile, Looks Fantastic wins roughly 1 in every 6 races — 1 from 6 at those trips — which is a noticeably better return than its overall numbers suggest. That is the range where it looks most comfortable, and the yard will surely keep it pointed in that direction. By contrast, its record at the level it typically competes at — Class 5, the entry-level end of the British racing ladder — reads zero wins from five attempts, which sounds puzzling given that the Redcar win came at that very level. The truth is most horses have these quirks; form is rarely perfectly neat.

The recent run of results tells a more positive story than the career record alone. Reading the last six races from most recent backwards — a win, a placed effort, another place, then a couple of disappointing days — suggests the horse has turned a corner. Trained by Michael Appleby out of Oakham in Rutland, Looks Fantastic is in a yard that clearly knows how to get horses firing: 79 winners already this season is a serious number and marks Appleby as one of the more productive trainers operating outside the big southern stables. A horse in form, trained by someone having a strong season, having raced as recently as yesterday — the picture is of a horse right in the thick of things rather than one being quietly wound down.