Resdev Time

Joanna Mason has been in the saddle for six of those eight races and knows this horse as well as anyone. Together they have yet to win — 0 from 6 — but the partnership has clearly been given time to develop, which suggests the team at Sheriff Hutton believe there is something worth persevering with. That yard is Michael and David Easterby's operation in North Yorkshire, and it is no small outfit — 55 winners sent out this season alone, which is a serious volume of success. When a yard of that productivity keeps running a horse without a win, it usually means they see ability that the results have not yet reflected.

Resdev Time has done most of its racing at Class 5, the lower end of the sport's ranking system, and has not won any of those four races at that level. That is the level where horses are expected to find their feet, so the lack of a breakthrough there is notable. The horse raced just yesterday, which means it is very much in the thick of an active campaign. At three years old, it is still relatively young and learning — but the clock is ticking, and eight races in, most people connected to a horse are looking for signs of progress rather than more placed finishes. The step from fourth or fifth to first is not always a large one in horse racing, but it can feel enormous when you are waiting for it to happen.