Rockin' The Boat

What makes that record more understandable is the level at which Rockin' The Boat has been asked to operate. Three of its races have come at Class 2 level — among the top tier of races in Britain — and it has not won any of them, but simply being sent out at that standard as a young horse says the yard believes there is genuine quality here. You do not run an ordinary horse in top-level company; you run one you think belongs there.

The trainer is David Menuisier, who operates out of Pulborough in West Sussex and has sent out 25 winners already this season — a yard clearly in good form. Menuisier has a reputation for placing horses carefully and thinking long-term, so the decision to pitch Rockin' The Boat into competitive races early is a deliberate one. Recent form reads 4-2-4-3-4-5 going back over the last six outings, with that second-place finish the highlight — close, but not close enough. The horse raced just one day ago, meaning it is right in the thick of an active campaign.

The honest truth is that a horse with no wins from eight races needs to find something extra. But four placings at a decent level, trained by a yard firing on all cylinders, and still only four years old — there is enough here to suggest Rockin' The Boat is not simply making up the numbers. The first win, when it comes, will have been a long time coming.