Cloudio

That sole place comes from a run of six races that tells an interesting story if you look closely. The sequence, reading back from most recent, goes blank, seventh, fourth, fifth, tenth, second. That second place is the standout — a horse that runs that close to the winner once clearly has the ability to compete. The fourth is encouraging too. The tenth suggests a bad day, the kind every horse has, and the most recent run returning a dash rather than a finishing position likely means he didn't complete or was pulled up. McKiernan will know more than the numbers show.

Based at Rathcoole in County Dublin, McKiernan's yard has sent out six winners this season, which gives you a sense of a small, working operation that picks its spots carefully. Cloudio is a seven-year-old, meaning he's been around the block — this isn't a young horse still learning the job. At this stage, the trainer knows exactly what he's working with, and the fact that Cloudio raced just yesterday suggests he's fit, well, and still thought capable of finding a race he can win.