West Hill Verde

Mullins describes the horse's early career as a deliberate education in the deep end. West Hill Verde finished second on debut at Kempton — a promising start — before being sent to a Listed race at Ascot and then another prestigious flat race at Newbury. These are not forgiving places to learn a trade. Pitching a young horse into that kind of company is a statement of belief, even if the results didn't show a win. Three of West Hill Verde's races have been at Class 1 level, the highest tier in British racing, and the horse has placed without winning all three times. Finishing without a win at that level is no disgrace — it just means you keep running into very good horses.

The recent form figures — 3, 3, 5, 3, 2, and then a pull-up or fall in between — paint a picture of a horse that competes honestly and finds a level without quite being able to assert itself at the finish. Mullins says his hurdle runs this season have been encouraging, and there is clearly a feeling within the yard that the right race, the right day, and perhaps a slightly softer target could change the win column entirely. The horse raced just yesterday, which tells you the team is keeping him busy and confident in his wellbeing.

Ten winners from the Mullins yard this season is a solid return, and West Hill Verde's moment may still be coming. The profile here is of a horse whose record understates his quality — zero wins from eight races sounds thin, but when most of those races are among the best in Britain, the story is really about a yard backing its horse to belong at the top table. Whether that faith gets rewarded remains to be seen.