Pentonville

The recent form reads 5-2-5 across the last three completed races, with a blank in between, and that second-place finish is the one thing worth holding onto. It shows Pentonville can get competitive when the day goes right — it just hasn't yet managed to push all the way through and win. Raced as recently as yesterday, this is a horse very much in the thick of its season and with every chance to improve.

What gives the situation some optimism is who is doing the training. George Boughey's Newmarket yard has sent out 105 winners already this season — a remarkable output that puts it firmly among the busiest and most productive operations in the country. Yards that busy tend to know exactly where to place a horse to give it its best chance, and the fact that Pentonville keeps getting runs suggests the team still believes there's a win in there somewhere. Sometimes it just takes time for a young horse to click.