Garnetot

That said, there are flickers of promise worth noting. A second-place finish sits in the recent record, which at least confirms Garnetot can mix it with horses good enough to beat it. The recent form line also shows a 14th placing and a 6th, which hints at some inconsistency — some days it runs with purpose, other days it gets swallowed up by the field.

What works in Garnetot's favour is the yard it calls home. Gordon Elliott, based at Longwood in County Meath, is one of the most formidable training operations in Ireland and Britain right now — 210 winners sent out this season alone. To put that in perspective, that is not a yard scraping around for runners; that is a production line of racehorses run by someone who knows exactly what he is doing. Horses in that environment have access to the best preparation possible, which means if Garnetot has a win in it, Elliott is well placed to find the right opportunity to bring it out.

Raced just one day ago and still active, Garnetot is clearly a horse whose story is still being written. Zero wins from eight races is a tough record to look at, but plenty of horses take time to click — and with a trainer firing in winners at the rate Elliott currently is, there is every reason to keep watching.