Espanita

Where she does look genuinely sharper is over distances between seven furlongs and a mile. At those trips she has won 1 from 5 races — a 20% win rate, or roughly 1 in every 5 — which is a meaningful step up from her overall record. That's the kind of number that tells a trainer something useful: keep her at that distance and her chances improve considerably.

She races out of Charlie Johnston's yard at Middleham Moor in North Yorkshire, and that is no bad place to be. Johnston's operation has sent out 131 winners already this season — a volume that speaks to a well-organised, busy stable with horses across a wide range of levels. A horse like Espanita, still learning and finding her feet, benefits from being around that kind of professional momentum. She raced just one day ago, so she is clearly in an active campaign, and with the right conditions over her preferred distance, another win is far from out of the question.