Stiletto

Stiletto does its best work at distances of two miles or more, which suits its profile as a grinder rather than a sprinter. Of its 23 races over those longer trips, it has won 3, which is a win rate of around 13%. That might not sound electric, but for a horse competing mostly at Class 5 level — the bread-and-butter, entry-level end of the sport — it tells you this is an animal that knows its job and does it honestly when conditions are right. On normal ground it has won 2 of its 16 races at that 12% clip, which suggests it really does not want extremes. Keep it on a sensible surface and let it settle into a rhythm over a decent distance and it becomes competitive.

The jockey pairing with Sean Bowen is worth noting. In six races together, Bowen has steered Stiletto to all three of its career wins — a 50% win rate from six rides, which is a remarkable number at any level. That kind of chemistry between horse and rider matters more than people outside racing tend to realise. Some horses simply respond to a particular pair of hands.

Trained by Sophie Leech out of a small yard in Elton, Gloucestershire — a setup that has sent out four winners this season — Stiletto is very much a working-class racehorse. No headline prizes, no six-figure prize money, just a modest, consistent presence at the practical end of the sport. It raced just one day ago and is clearly still in active training. With its two recent wins still fresh, and a partnership with Bowen that has clicked in a way that defies the overall numbers, Stiletto heads into whatever comes next with more momentum than its career record alone would suggest.