Twilight Dawn

The recent form doesn't make for comfortable reading either. Looking at the last six races from most recent backwards — third, fifth, seventh, twelfth, ninth, seventh — there is the odd glimmer buried in there. That third-place finish is the closest Twilight Dawn has come to a win, and it shows the horse can at least compete when things go right. But the wide swings in performance, from a respectable third all the way down to a distant twelfth, suggest consistency is the missing piece right now.

Simon Whitaker's operation is a small but active yard, having sent out three winners already this season. That is a modest total, but it tells you this is a trainer who knows how to get horses to the track and ready to perform. The fact that Twilight Dawn raced just one day ago shows there is no lack of ambition about keeping this horse busy and finding the right opportunity. Sometimes a horse just needs things to fall into place — the right race, the right day — and being kept active is one way of chasing that moment.

At three years old, there is still time. Horses at this age are still developing physically and mentally, and plenty have turned patchy early form into something much better once experience kicks in. Twilight Dawn has not won yet, but it has not been written off either, and a trainer willing to keep running a horse and looking for openings is often the best thing a young horse can have on its side.