Lough Leane

What they figured out is that Lough Leane is a horse built for normal ground and a distance of a mile and a mile or two — conditions that suit a horse who wants to travel comfortably and wear his rivals down rather than sprint. On normal ground specifically, he has won 6 of his 11 races, a quite remarkable 55% return that explains why his team are so particular about when they run him. Over the mile-and-one to mile-and-two trip range, he has won 7 of 18 races — 39% — which is the kind of number that makes a trainer's eyes light up when the right race comes along.

He has also shown a fondness for Southwell, winning 2 of just 3 visits there. That sort of record at a specific track is rarely a coincidence — something about the track's shape or surface clearly suits the way he moves. And this week brought his most recent win at Ballinrobe, just days ago, confirming that at six years old he is very much in form rather than winding down.

His current jockey partnership with Julian Pietropaolo has not yet produced a win from eight races together, which is a stat worth watching, though it does not seem to be slowing the horse down overall given his recent results. Jockey Callum Shepherd, who rode him at Wolverhampton earlier in his winning sequence, described it as "very hard work from the turn in" — but crucially, Lough Leane got it done. That says something about the horse's character. He is not flashy, not effortless, but he finds a way. For a yard that has sent out just two winners this season, he is carrying the flag right now.