Poet Master

But Burke is not discouraged. After seeing Poet Master struggle on his return in heavy, holding ground at the Curragh earlier this year, the trainer is convinced the issue was simply the surface, not the horse. "He got very tired in the slow ground," Burke explained, adding that the horse needs a bit of cut in the ground but not the deep, muddy conditions that defeated him most recently. The trainer believes Poet Master is stronger now than last year and has targeted two races at Haydock to get him back on track: the Listed Spring Trophy on May 10, followed by a step up to the Group 3 John of Gaunt Stakes on May 31 if all goes well.

The numbers back Burke's optimism. Poet Master has won 5 of his 15 races — a 33 per cent win rate — and his best partnership is with Sam James, who has ridden the horse to victory 5 times from 10 races together, an exceptional 50 per cent success rate. Yet Class 1 racing has so far eluded him: he has never won from 3 attempts at that level. The question now is whether a return to the right ground at the right track can unlock the improvement Burke sees waiting beneath the surface.