Son

Son has spent most of his career lining up in Class 1 races — the very best races in Britain — and has not won any of his seven attempts at that level. That sounds like a failure, but look at it from a different angle: Easterby's yard has sent out 126 winners this season alone, and they have chosen to keep putting Son in the deepest water available. That tells you something. You don't run an ordinary horse repeatedly at the top level unless you believe the talent is there, somewhere, waiting to arrive.

The trainer's own words bear that out. After a fourth-place finish in the Greenham — a serious race for serious horses — Easterby was candid that the horse looked like he might have downed tools mid-race and finished well back, but instead he stuck his neck out and fought home. That kind of grit is not something you can train into a horse; it is either there or it isn't. Owner Julie Wood was equally enthusiastic after the Newbury win, talking about Royal Ascot in the same breath — which is about as high as ambition gets in British racing.

Most recently, Son has been ridden in 11 of his races by Pat Dobbs, who has partnered him to that single win — a ratio of 1 in 11, or around 9%. The pair have not recaptured that winning feeling in the six races since Newbury, with Son's recent form showing a mix of placed efforts and quieter days. He ran just yesterday, which tells you the team still believes there is more to come. Whether that one Newbury win turns out to be the ceiling or the starting point remains the interesting question. Right now, the jury is still very much out.