Zeriya

What gives the story some genuine interest is the yard behind her. Andrew Balding trains out of Kingsclere in Hampshire, and this season his operation has been in outstanding form — 202 winners is a remarkable total that puts him firmly among the elite trainers in the country. To put that in perspective, many yards would consider 20 or 30 winners a solid year. A trainer running at that kind of volume tends to know exactly what a horse needs, and when to be patient with one that is still finding its feet. Zeriya may not have contributed to that tally yet, but being in a yard that good means she is at least in the best possible hands while she figures things out.

At two runs in, she is still very early in her story. There is not enough evidence yet to know whether improvement is just around the corner or whether the results reflect her ceiling — but with Balding's team giving her another chance so recently, they clearly have not given up on her.