Fred Watson

His most regular partnership has been with jockey Matt Cool, and the two have teamed up five times without managing to get their heads in front. That kind of collaboration — where a trainer and jockey keep working together despite the results — usually says something about a shared belief that a breakthrough is coming. Whether it does will depend on the horses they can attract and the opportunities that follow.

Five runners in four years is a small operation, and at this stage the story is really just beginning. The numbers will only start to mean something when there are more of them.