Purest Time

What makes that Windsor win worth noting is the context. Purest Time has spent most of its career competing at Class 2 level — some of the better races in Britain — and had drawn a blank in all nine attempts at that grade before this week. Windsor, on this occasion, was the race where it finally put it all together. Whether that signals a new chapter or a rare purple patch remains to be seen, but a horse that has been knocking on the door at a decent level is always one to watch once it finds the knack of winning.

The trainer behind this is Ian Williams, based at Portway in Worcestershire, and his yard has been in serious form this season — 96 winners and counting, which is the kind of output that does not happen by accident. A yard firing at that rate tends to know its horses well, and placing Purest Time in a race it could win — after nine fruitless tries at a higher level — looks like patient, smart training. The recent form figures of 1-7-11-5-10-3 tell the story of a horse that can be inconsistent, but the first number in that sequence is now the one that matters most.