This Rib

What makes the situation more interesting is the gap since we last saw This Rib run. Five months is a long time away from the track for a young horse, and that kind of break usually means something — whether it's a minor setback that needed time to resolve, or simply a patient yard deciding not to rush a horse that hasn't found its feet yet. Either way, This Rib returns as something of an unknown quantity, which in racing can cut both ways.

The trainer is David Loughnane, based at Stoke Heath in Shropshire, and his yard has been in fine form this season — 38 winners is a healthy total that suggests horses leave his operation in good shape. A trainer sending out that volume of winners clearly knows how to get a horse ready to perform, so if This Rib comes back fit and well, the preparation at least won't be in question. So far, all three of This Rib's races have come at Class 5 level — the entry-level tier of British racing — and the horse has yet to trouble the judge at that grade. The next run will be worth watching closely, simply because we still don't really know what this horse is capable of when things fall right.