Boiling Point

Newmarket is where Boiling Point looks most at home. He has won 2 of his 5 races there, a 40% record at one of the most demanding and unforgiving tracks in the country — a long, straight gallop where there is nowhere to hide. Burke's own words suggest the horse is still operating below his ceiling: the trainer believes Boiling Point is genuinely Group-race quality, the tier reserved for the very best horses in Europe. His win in the Cambridgeshire — a famously competitive autumn handicap — came with top weight, meaning he was carrying more than every other runner, and he still held on.

Ground matters with this horse. On normal conditions he has won 3 of 7 races, a 43% record that is exceptional at any level. Burke has noted that he looks like he needs every yard of a track when the ground is soft, which explains why the team have one eye on Royal Ascot and the Jersey Stakes — a stiff seven furlongs on the fast summer ground that the trainer has apparently had pencilled in all winter.

Burke's yard has been operating at a remarkable clip this season, sending out 140 winners already. Boiling Point is one of the horses carrying the flag for that operation at the top end. His recent form — two wins and a second from his last six races — shows a horse in the form of his life. If the ground comes up right at Ascot, the trainer and Sheikh Obaid, who owns him, will feel they have a genuine chance of landing something very significant indeed.