Who's Lope

What gives the horse's the yard — sorry, what gives the yard real cause for optimism is who's doing the training. Andrew Balding operates out of Kingsclere in Hampshire, and his operation is currently in outstanding form: 202 winners sent out this season alone. To put that in perspective, that's not a yard that gets lucky occasionally — that's a well-oiled machine consistently producing results at a high level. When a horse comes out of a yard firing like that, it tends to mean the preparation is as good as it gets.

Who's Lope raced just yesterday, so this is a horse in the middle of an active campaign. With only two races on the clock, there's still plenty to learn about what conditions or distances suit best. The placed finish shows a flicker of promise, and with Balding's record behind it, it would be no surprise to see the win column ticked off before long.