Gatehouse

What makes this particularly interesting is the consistency. The recent form reads 1-1-2 — a second place sandwiched between two wins — which tells you this horse is not just showing up and running around; it is competitive every single time it steps onto a track. There are horses who take years to hit that kind of rhythm. Gatehouse has found it almost immediately.

Behind the horse is trainer S Woods, operating out of Newmarket in Suffolk — the heartland of British flat racing, where the competition among yards is fierce. The team has sent out 23 winners already this season, which is a solid return and suggests a yard that knows how to place its horses in races they can win. Gatehouse arriving at Southwell and winning this week is entirely in keeping with how that operation runs.

At just three years old and with only three races under its belt, Gatehouse is very much at the beginning of its story. The question now is where S Woods points the horse next — and whether it can keep this level of form going as the competition gets tougher.