Briery Butterfly

What is perhaps most telling is where Briery Butterfly competes. Class 5 is the entry-level tier of British racing — these are the races where horses who have not shown enough to step up to better company tend to spend most of their time. Briery Butterfly has run six times at this level and is still yet to win one. That does not make it a bad horse, but it does suggest that if a win is going to come, it may need everything to fall perfectly on the day.

The horse is trained by Henry Daly at his yard in Ludlow, Shropshire, and Daly has had a decent season — 17 winners sent out, which shows the stable is in good form and capable of getting horses ready to win. That context matters. When a yard is firing, a horse like Briery Butterfly, sitting on a run of decent placed efforts, is exactly the sort that can sneak a win if the right race comes along. Whether that day arrives soon is the question anyone following this horse will be asking.