Magna

The current form is genuinely eye-catching. Three wins from the last six races — and a string of placed efforts in between — suggests a horse that is in the best shape of its life right now. That run of 3-1-1-1-3-3 reads almost like a rhythm: never far away, often in front. The most recent win came just two weeks ago at Wolverhampton, and Magna raced again only yesterday, which tells you this is a horse being kept busy while it's in form. Tony Carroll's yard at Cropthorne has sent out 136 winners this season alone, so this is a team that knows how to place a horse well and strike while conditions are right.

The Wolverhampton record is worth lingering on. Two wins from five races at a single track — that is a 40% win rate at that course, against a career average of 22%. Tracks have their own quirks, their own bends and cambers, and some horses just click with a particular venue in a way that's hard to fully explain. Wolverhampton seems to suit Magna in exactly that way.

The distance profile backs it up further. Over five to six-and-a-half furlongs — short, sharp sprinting trips — Magna has won 5 of 13 races, a 38% win rate that is remarkable for any horse in regular competition. Then there's the ground: four wins from ten races on normal conditions, a 40% win rate that tells you this horse is at its best when the track is neither too wet nor too firm. Put it all together — the right distance, the right ground, the right track — and you have a horse that, when the stars align, is hard to beat.

Jack Doughty has ridden Magna in eight of those 23 races and won just once together — roughly 1 in 8 — which suggests the partnership hasn't yet found its peak. Given how well Magna is running right now, that may just be a matter of time.