Ernie McCrew

What gives the story some optimism is the yard behind the horse. Trainer J S Moore, based at Upper Lambourn in Berkshire, has sent out 17 winners already this season — a solid total that marks this out as a yard that knows how to get a horse ready to win. Upper Lambourn sits at the heart of British racing's training country, and a trainer putting winners on the board regularly is one who tends to find the right race for the right horse at the right time. The patience being shown with Ernie McCrew fits that picture.

Raced just one day ago, this is a horse right in the middle of its season. At three years old, it is still learning its trade, and plenty of horses take time to find their feet before everything clicks. The form figures are not spectacular, but there is no disaster in there either — no last-place finishes, no sign of a horse falling apart. Sometimes that steady, unglamorous progression is exactly what comes before a breakthrough.