Teorie

When things have gone his way, the conditions have usually been clear: slightly wet ground suits him well, and he has won 2 of his 4 races in those conditions — that's a 50% win rate, which is genuinely striking. His best distance is somewhere in the 1 mile 6 furlongs to 2 mile range, where he has won 2 of 9 races, or roughly 1 in every 4 and a half. Strip away the wrong conditions and the wrong trip and you have a much more interesting horse than his overall record of 3 wins from 28 races — roughly 1 in every 9 — might suggest.

He is now trained by Daisy Hitchins, based in Sherborne in Dorset, a yard that has sent out 13 winners already this season. Hitchins was candid about Teorie when he first arrived — he showed her nothing in his work at home and she had genuine doubts before his first flat run. He answered those doubts adequately enough, running a solid race, and the plan is to take him back over hurdles later in the season where he showed some decent form previously. That switch could be significant. His most regular jockey, Mr Robbie David, has ridden him 10 times without a win between them, which is a rough partnership by any measure — 0 from 10 is a hard stat to dress up.

Teorie is a horse searching for the right combination: the right ground, the right distance, and perhaps the right test. At his best, he can be competitive. Getting that best has proven elusive lately, but with a change of scenery, a return to hurdles, and the right patch of soft ground underfoot, there is a case — however thin — that he is not quite done yet.