Esdaile

That said, three races is a very small sample. Plenty of horses take time to find their feet, and Esdaile is still young. What works in its favour is where it is trained. J Tate operates out of Newmarket in Suffolk — one of the historic heartlands of British racing — and the yard has been in fine form this season, sending out 51 winners. That is a productive operation, and horses stabled there tend to be well-prepared and placed in the right races at the right time. When a yard is firing like that, it suggests patience with a horse like Esdaile is not misplaced.

The one encouraging note is that Esdaile only raced yesterday, so it is clearly fit, active, and still being campaigned. The team have not given up on finding the right opportunity. Whether this horse can turn those near-miss finishes into something more competitive remains to be seen — but it is still very early days.