Committee Meeting

The recent form makes for sobering reading: two sixth-place finishes, a blank, and then three results that don't even register on the form book. The one bright spot is that third place, which at least confirms Committee Meeting can get competitive when things fall right. Whether that level is enough to actually win a race remains the open question — and after nine months off the track, we're about to find out if the break has done any good.

Long absences can mean many things. Sometimes a horse comes back rejuvenated, with its issues ironed out and a yard quietly confident. Sometimes it just means more of the same. With Rothwell's team firing on all cylinders this season, there's at least reason to think this return has been carefully managed rather than rushed. Committee Meeting may not be anyone's idea of a banker, but stranger things have happened than a horse finding its moment after a long rest. Stranger things, in fact, happen at committee meetings all the time.