Palmeira

What's particularly striking is the level at which this horse competes. Palmeira has been running exclusively in Class 1 races — the very top tier of British racing — going 0 from 4 at that level. That's a bit like a young tennis player who keeps getting drawn against top-10 seeds. The fact that Palmeira keeps being entered at that standard suggests the team around the horse believes the ability is there; it just hasn't translated into a win yet.

Jockey Charles Bishop has been in the saddle for 7 of those 12 races together, and the pair have yet to find the winner's enclosure. That's a long run of near-misses for a partnership that clearly has the yard's confidence. Palmeira raced just one day ago, so this is very much a horse in active campaign mode — the search for that breakthrough is ongoing rather than historical.

Trainer Eve Johnson Houghton, based in Blewbury, Oxfordshire, is clearly having a productive season — 42 winners from her yard is a healthy return and shows she knows how to prepare horses to win. When a trainer is firing on all cylinders like that, a horse like Palmeira stands out a little as unfinished business. The talent in the yard is obvious; whether Palmeira can tap into it remains the question. Given the horse is only three years old and is already mixing it at the highest level, there's every reason to think the win, when it comes, could be worth waiting for.