Ancient Rome

The Goodwood win came with an asterisk, though — and it's a revealing one. Jockey Jamie Spencer, who has ridden Ancient Rome in five of his races and won on him once (a rate of 1 in 5), described afterwards a horse that is, to put it gently, not a natural hard worker. Asked to sprint, Ancient Rome will give you three or four strides of effort before his attention drifts elsewhere. He pricked his ears right on the finishing line, as if already thinking about something more interesting. Spencer described following a rival who was tiring badly and steering around him — the race, in his words, "fell into his lap." That is not a knock on the horse, but it is a character study worth keeping in mind.

Trainer Charles Hills, who runs a busy yard in Lambourn that has produced 29 winners this season, has spoken candidly about Ancient Rome being a big, high-maintenance horse who takes time to get right. An injury at the end of last season disrupted his preparation, and it shows in the recent form — his last six runs read 9, 7, 17, 12, 11, 11, which is a sequence that would test anyone's patience. He raced just yesterday, so he is clearly still in active training, but the results suggest he is yet to find the form that made him so impressive at Goodwood.

What keeps people watching is that combination of bloodline and the memory of that August afternoon. He is bred on his father's side to thrive on fast ground, and Hills has noted he handles most conditions well. The puzzle with Ancient Rome is not whether the talent is there — the Goodwood win proved it is. The puzzle is whether anyone can persuade him to use it.