Arlecchino's Rex

Twelve races at Wolverhampton and two wins tells you something. It is not a fluke. Most horses at this level drift in and out of form without any obvious pattern, so finding a track where a horse repeatedly fires is genuinely useful information. Usher's yard has sent out 15 winners this season, suggesting a stable in decent health, and regular partner Jason Watson — who has ridden the horse in 9 of its 25 races — will be well aware by now that the Wolverhampton all-weather surface suits this horse like little else does.

The form figures from the last six runs read 3-3-1-5-4-3, which is the profile of a horse that keeps turning up and finishing close without always winning. Eight places from 25 races confirms that — this is not a horse that disappears from contention, it just does not always convert. Normal ground conditions suit it best, with both wins coming on a standard surface across 15 attempts in those conditions, and it tends to find its range over a mile and one to a mile and two furlongs, winning once from seven races at those distances.

Racing at the lower end of the sport's class structure, Arlecchino's Rex competes mostly in Class 6 races — the entry-level tier, where prize money is modest and competition is the most open. Both wins have come at that level across 19 attempts. It raced just yesterday, so the legs are ticking over and the yard clearly has no intention of giving it a rest. Whether it lines up at Wolverhampton again soon will be worth watching — because if it does, history says it has a better chance than most of its rivals would care to admit.