Nyra

What lifts the profile considerably is her form in Germany, where she was placed in the German Oaks. That is a Classic race — one of the most prestigious events for horses her age in Europe — and simply finishing in the frame there signals a horse of real quality. Most horses never get within a sniff of a race like that. The fact that she has done so, without yet winning, is less a mark against her and more a sign that better days may be ahead.

She is trained by Joseph Patrick O'Brien at Owning Hill in County Kilkenny, and that matters. O'Brien's yard has sent out 160 winners already this season — that is the kind of production that only the very best operations sustain, and it means Nyra is being looked after by people who consistently know how to get a horse ready to run well. O'Brien himself has spoken warmly about her, flagging her German form as a genuine quality marker and saying the team like what they see from her at home. The plan is to have her out again in the second half of May, so there is a clear target in sight.

She raced just yesterday, which means she is right in the thick of her campaign. A horse with Classic-level placed form, trained at one of Europe's most productive yards, and already back in action — Nyra is very much a work in progress, and the story may look quite different in a few