Bluestone Lady

Her recent form tells an interesting story. The sequence of 10-2-4-6-2-6 reads as inconsistent on the surface, but look closer and there are two second-place finishes tucked in there among the struggles. That means on her best days she is running right to the wire with the winner — she just has not managed to get her nose in front when it counts. The bigger concern is the bookend performances, the sixth and tenth-place finishes, which hint at a horse who has good days and bad days, as many young horses do.

She ran just yesterday, which means she is in the thick of a busy campaign for a two-year-old. Some young horses thrive on that kind of racing schedule; others need more time between runs to show their best. How she comes out of yesterday's race will tell trainer Phillip Makin plenty.

Makin operates out of Easingwold in North Yorkshire and has sent out nine winners already this season, so the yard clearly knows how to get a horse ready to perform. The question for Bluestone Lady is whether the right race — the right conditions, the right day — is just around the corner. At her age, with her best two finishes proving she can mix it at the sharp end, it would be no great surprise if that first win arrived before the season is out.