Beautiful Diamond

She is five years old and has won 4 of her 15 races in total, which works out at roughly 1 in every 4 — a solid record. But the headline numbers understate the quality of what she has achieved. Ten of her 15 races have been at Class 1 level, the very top tier, and she has won 3 of those. Competing at the sharpest end of the sport and winning 30% of the time is genuinely impressive. Her career earnings of £74,000 reflect a horse who has consistently mixed it with elite company and come out on top often enough to matter.

On dry, fast ground she becomes almost unbeatable: 2 wins from 3 races, which is a 67% win rate. The team learned this the hard way when a run at Newmarket on firm ground left her jarred up and required a patient reset. The assistant trainer James Cowley noted afterwards that the soft conditions back at Ayr had done her "a world of good," and her subsequent win seemed to confirm it. Owner's racing manager Philip Robinson was equally clear: she is all speed, and jockey Clifford Lee — who rides her in most of her races and has won 3 of their 12 outings together — simply let her roll in September and she did the rest.

Burke's yard has sent out 140 winners this season alone, which tells you this is not a small operation making optimistic plans. When Burke said in April that Beautiful Diamond could be "bang there" in the top sprint races and named targets like the Temple Stakes, that was a considered assessment from a trainer who knows exactly what he has. Her recent form reads 3-3-2-1-8-2 — a blip in the middle, but otherwise consistently placing and winning at the top level. She raced just one day ago and is very much still active. The story is not finished yet.