Mythical Bird

Her overall record — two wins and nine places from 16 races — reads like a horse that has consistently been thereabouts without quite delivering. She wins roughly once every eight races, which isn't spectacular, but the detail matters. Trained by Hughie Morrison at East Ilsley, she has never managed to win a race at Class 5 level, where the top horses compete. Instead, her wins have come at lower grades: her first career victory at Lingfield Park in late April, and then that more recent win at Salisbury. Those victories suggest she has found her level and can be competitive there. Recent form tells the story: a win, then a third-place finish, followed by a disappointing run at Goodwood where the track and soft ground didn't suit her, then two more thirds before she bounced back to win this week. Morrison noted earlier in the summer that she had been running consistently but narrowly missing out — second on her seasonal debut at Wolverhampton, beaten only a head by Crepe Suzette. The pattern is of a horse that runs well and gets into the frame, but hasn't quite had everything fall into place until now. With two wins in her last six races and back at the track just yesterday, Mythical Bird is showing the kind of improving form that could sustain her at the right level.