Zurna

What marks Zurna out is how quickly it has learned to win. After breaking through at Newmarket in August, it has come straight back to the same track and done it again, suggesting the yard understands what this horse needs and where it is best suited. The fact that both wins have come at Newmarket, one of the toughest courses to master, is significant. Trainers Julia and Shelley Birkett, who run their operation from Newmarket itself, have sent out 15 winners this season and clearly know how to prepare horses for their local track. Recent form shows a slight dip — places followed by a couple of harder runs — but the immediate return to the winner's enclosure this week indicates those were blips rather than signs of trouble. With Zurna still racing actively and having just won, the next few weeks will reveal whether this is a horse heading towards better-class races or one whose level has been found.