Black Storm

Scott trains out of Galashiels in the Scottish Borders, and her yard has been in good form this season — 17 winners already, which suggests this is not a stable that takes on horses for the sake of it. Black Storm was picked up at the sales on behalf of Ursa Major Racing, which means someone looked at his record and decided he was worth a punt. His overall figures — 1 win from 12 races, or roughly 1 in every 12 — are modest, but raw win rates can be misleading. Six places from 12 races tells a different story: this is a horse that keeps turning up in the frame, even when the win is not coming. He is not a horse that finishes tenth every time and disappears. He competes.

The challenge is that his last win came 19 months ago, and he is now returning after a seven-month break — the longest he has had off the track. Whether that layoff reflects a physical issue, a change of ownership, or simply the time it takes to move between yards is not clear, but Scott sounds genuinely excited about getting him back out. She describes him as a nice, big horse, which often means a trainer believes there is more to come physically. At five years old, Black Storm is not ancient — plenty of horses do their best work at this age. The question is whether the new surroundings, a fresh set of eyes, and Scott's in-form yard can coax something more consistent out of him than his record has shown so far.