Sprinting Speed

What makes the picture more sobering is where Sprinting Speed has been asked to do it. Class 4 is not the glamour end of racing — these are mid-level contests, a long way from the big occasions — and yet the horse has drawn a blank in all three races at that level, finishing without a win or even a top-three place. That is a tough record to defend.

There is, however, a reason to keep watching. Sprinting Speed is trained by Jennie Candlish, whose yard at Basford in Staffordshire has sent out 61 winners already this season. That is a genuinely productive operation, and horses from busy, successful yards often take time to find their feet before things click. Whether Sprinting Speed is simply a work in progress or is finding its current level a stretch remains to be seen — but with a trainer firing in winners at that rate, it would be premature to write it off entirely.