Record Day

The one flicker of promise comes from that middle run, a fourth-place finish sandwiched between two distant eighths. Whether that represents genuine improvement or simply a kinder day at the office is hard to say on such a small sample.

What does work in Record Day's favour is the team behind it. Trainer Brian Ellison, based at Norton in North Yorkshire, has sent out 43 winners already this season — a yard clearly capable of getting horses to perform. Ellison has a reputation for patient, long-term development, so a three-year-old still finding its feet is not necessarily a lost cause. The horse raced just one day ago, so it is very much an active project rather than a forgotten one. Whether the form catches up with the surroundings remains to be seen.