Nymphaea

What makes Nymphaea interesting now is her recent upswing. She has won 2 of her last 6 races, and her form line in those six outings — 4-1-5-1-2-3 — shows genuine momentum. She clearly loves fast, dry ground: she has won 2 of her 5 races on those conditions, a 40% win rate that stands out against her overall 12% record across all 17 races. When the ground is right and the track is Nottingham, she becomes a different proposition. Her trainer, Jennie Candlish, runs a prolific yard that has already sent out 64 winners this season, and she sees something worth backing in Nymphaea. The trainer noted earlier this year that the horse is well handicapped and on the verge of clicking into gear — a remark that has proven prescient given her recent wins.

At four years old and currently active, Nymphaea is a horse with a ceiling and a floor. She is unlikely to win at the highest levels — her attempts in top-class company have yielded nothing — but on the right day, at the right place, with fast ground underfoot, she is genuinely competitive. For a horse that has earned just £74,000 across her entire career, that makes her a useful tool in the right hands. The next question is whether those hands will keep running her at Nottingham, where she belongs, or whether the temptation to test her elsewhere will cost her more races than it wins.