Rlasthope

The most encouraging sign is how recent that winning form is. Four weeks ago, Rlasthope went back to Southwell and won again, which is the hallmark of a horse that understands a track and runs well there. Since then, the pattern has been mixed but not discouraging. Last week saw a seventh-place finish, the worst result of recent weeks, but before that came a win followed by a third and then fourth place — the kind of up-and-down form you see in young horses still figuring things out. Still active and racing regularly, Rlasthope is clearly a horse the trainers T Coyle and K Wood believe in enough to keep running.

The Norton yard has had a decent season, sending out a dozen winners already, so this is not an outfit without winners. For a two-year-old with four placings from six races and Southwell clearly suiting it, Rlasthope has a decent foundation to build on. The next step will be another race where things click into place — and the track record suggests Southwell might be the place where that happens next.