Mr Cool

The picture becomes clearer on fast, dry ground. On normal conditions—fast enough to gallop but not rock-hard—he has won 3 of his 13 races, a win rate of better than 1 in 5. Ask him to race on soft or muddy going and he struggles; he has never won in heavy conditions. This matters. Every trainer knows what their horse likes, and Charlie Johnston, who trains him from Middleham Moor in North Yorkshire, will now be picking his races with that in mind. Johnston's yard is flourishing this season with 131 winners, the kind of outfit that understands how to get the best from a horse like this one.

Joe Fanning, who rides him most often, has partnered him six times and won once—a 17 per cent win rate that suggests they work well enough together. Mr Cool's last victory, at Redcar last week, shows he is sound and ready. He races at Class 4 level, the lower tiers of British racing, where he has won 1 of 13 races. That record hints that when he steps up in class, he finds life tougher, so the plan is likely to keep him competing where he knows how to win and to catch the right ground when it comes.