Silver Lake

What makes Silver Lake's recent form genuinely striking is the current winning streak. It has won three races on the bounce, most recently that victory at York on 21 August. Before the streak began, the form read a bit messier — a third, a sixth, and a seventh — but since then, it has been nearly faultless: first, first, first. That kind of turnaround, that kind of consistency over three consecutive outings, suggests the horse has found something, whether that is extra fitness, a better understanding of what it is doing, or simply the confidence that comes from winning.

Silver Lake is trained by William Haggas at Newmarket, a yard that has already sent out 170 winners this season. That is a measure of the standard of horsemanship on the place — a busy, successful operation — but it also means Silver Lake is being trained amongst proven winners, horses that know how to do the job. For a 3-year-old, that matters. At this age, experience and the right environment count for everything.

The record speaks for itself: three wins, four places from six races. That is a horse that turns up and produces, that does not run badly very often. The recent form — win, win, win — suggests better days might still lie ahead. This is a horse worth watching.