Wiltshire

The trouble is that win came almost two years ago now, and the six races since have produced nothing better than a third place. The recent form figures — 11-5-6-11-7-3, reading from most recent backwards — paint a picture of a horse that occasionally flashes ability without quite putting it all together. Two finishes outside the top ten in the last six suggests things are not exactly clicking at the moment, even if the odd placing keeps hope alive.

Wiltshire is trained by William Haggas at Newmarket, and that in itself is worth noting. Haggas has sent out 170 winners already this season — a yard operating at that volume is one of the best-run operations in the country, so the horse is in expert hands. Tom Marquand rides most often, with the pair combining for 1 win from 6 races together, winning about 1 in 6 times they go to post. At the Class 2 level where Wiltshire typically competes, the margins are fine and the company is tough — a 14% win rate at that grade, 1 win from 7 attempts, is respectable without being dominant.

Now six years old and raced just yesterday, Wiltshire is still active and still being aimed at decent races. Whether another win is coming is the question the form makes genuinely hard to answer. The talent is clearly there. The opportunity, in the right race on the right day, may be what it still needs.