Classiest

The reason she hasn't been seen since is frustrating but straightforward: she came back into training after that debut win and went slightly lame behind, which put the brakes on everything. That means she's now been off the track for around six months, and her return is still to come. The good news, according to O'Brien, is that the setback appears to have been minor enough that the team are thinking about pitching her straight into a Group race — one of the top-tier contests — when she does return in the middle of the season. That's a significant statement of ambition for a horse who has run exactly once in her life.

It's worth noting the yard she comes from. O'Brien's stable has sent out 144 winners already this season. That's a machine of an operation, and they don't casually drop Group race plans into conversation. If they're talking about that level for a lightly raced 3-year-old, it tells you something about what they see in her at home. Classiest remains one to watch — not for what she has done, which is limited by circumstance, but for what the people around her clearly believe she is capable of.