Any Which Way

The record reads one win and one placed finish from four races — a 25% win rate, or one in every four attempts — which is a perfectly respectable return for a young horse still figuring things out. The recent form string of 1-8-5-10 tells a slightly mixed story: a winner one day, well beaten on other occasions. But recency is what matters most here, and the most recent result is a win, which is the best possible place to be.

Any Which Way is trained by Michael Bell at Newmarket, one of British racing's most established bases. Bell's yard has sent out 47 winners already this season, which speaks to an operation in good health and one that clearly knows how to place a horse in the right race at the right moment. Getting a 3-year-old to the winner's enclosure at Nottingham this week suggests they have found a path that suits this horse, and it will be interesting to see whether they back up that confidence with a run in the coming weeks.