Veblen Good

Now four years old and very much in the thick of his season, Veblen Good has put together a career record of 2 wins and 4 places from 7 races — a win rate of roughly 1 in every 3.5 races, or 29% if you prefer the number. That is a genuinely healthy return, and it reflects a horse who rarely runs badly. Even when he doesn't win, he tends to be involved. His last six races read 13-1-7-4-2-1 — two wins bookending a mixed middle patch, with that most recent victory coming at Pontefract on 29 April. He raced again just yesterday, so this is a horse being kept busy and in form.

O'Meara's yard at Upper Helmsley in North Yorkshire has been in excellent shape this season, sending out 101 winners — a number that tells you this is one of the more productive operations in the country right now. A horse trained there who wins on his debut for the yard and then follows up months later is clearly fitting into a setup that knows what it's doing with him.

What comes next is interesting. O'Meara has entered Veblen Good in the Wokingham, one of the most competitive sprint handicap races at Royal Ascot — a genuinely big occasion. He's realistic that a place in the field isn't guaranteed unless the horse wins again between now and then, but the fact he's been entered at all tells you something about the regard in which he's held. There's also a question of distance: Veblen Good won his last race over six furlongs, but O'Meara believes there's a chance he might handle seven. If that's right, it opens up a wider range of options. For a horse bought on instinct at an autumn sale, he's turned out to be quite the find.