Distillation

What stands out is that Distillation runs best over distances between seven furlongs and a mile. Over that range, the record reads 1 win from 4 races, which is a 25 per cent win rate and double the overall average. That suggests the horse has found its distance, or at least is beginning to find it. Mark Usher's yard at Upper Lambourn has had 14 winners this season, so there is form and experience in the stable. The trainer evidently thinks there is more to come.

Recent form has been patchy. In the last six races, Distillation has had a second place and a fourth, but also a ninth and a tenth, which are the kind of runs that frustrate the yard and punters alike. Still, the horse ran five days ago and is back in action already—still young, still being tested at different trips and in different company. One win from seven races is not much, but for a 3-year-old still figuring out where it belongs, there is enough promise in those middle-distance runs to suggest Wolverhampton was not a one-off.