Angela's Baar

The trainer points to her debut at Pontefract as a race she was unlucky not to win, and a subsequent run at Wetherby as one that simply shouldn't have happened — the ground was too fast and dry for her, and she came home feeling the effects of it. That kind of experience can quietly set a young horse back, and it adds important context to a record that otherwise looks like a straightforward underachiever. One place from eight races, with recent finishes reading 4th, 5th, 6th, 8th, 5th and 7th, is not a profile that jumps off the page — but the trainer's confidence in her hasn't wavered.

What makes this interesting is where Keatley is pointing her next. He has mentioned a race at York as a realistic target — a step up in class and occasion that you only aim at if you genuinely believe in the horse. The yard has sent out 43 winners this season, so this is not a team short on confidence or form, and the fact that they are thinking big with Angela's Baar rather than dropping her into easier company says something. Keatley describes her as a tall horse with a big future, which suggests she may still be filling out and learning the job. Some horses take longer than others to put it all together, and a three-year-old who has struggled in the wrong conditions is very much one to keep watching if the ground comes up softer.