Thornaby Annie

Trained by Adrian Nicholls at his yard in Sessay, North Yorkshire, Annie is in capable hands. Nicholls has sent out 12 winners already this season, so the operation clearly knows how to get a horse ready to win. The question is when, not whether, the yard can find the right opportunity for her. She has spent her time competing at Class 5 level — the entry-level tier of British flat racing — and has placed three times in that company without converting. That is a horse knocking on the door, not one that is hopelessly out of her depth.

Her recent form makes for interesting reading: her last six results read 2-13-4-3-7-3, which means she has finished second or third on three separate occasions in that spell. In other words, half her recent races have ended with her in the frame. The 13th-place finish and the 7th suggest she has her off days, as every horse does, but the pattern of placing suggests she is consistent enough to be competitive when things click. She raced just yesterday, so she is very much an active, current proposition rather than a horse being dusted off after a long break.

At this stage of her career, Thornaby Annie reads like a horse on the verge. She has the placing record to suggest ability, a trainer in form to suggest support, and her age — just three years old — means there is every reason to expect improvement. Plenty of horses take time to learn how to win, and when Annie does finally get her nose in front, none of it will have come as a surprise.