Go For Gold

What makes the situation a little puzzling is the company it keeps. Go For Gold has spent most of its career at Class 5, which is the bread-and-butter level of British racing — the kind of races designed to give horses a chance to win. Even there, in three attempts at that level, it hasn't found a way through. Finishing eighth or ninth in a race at that grade suggests it's struggling to compete even against modest opposition.

The one thing working in its favour is the trainer. J G Portman, based at Upper Lambourn in Berkshire, has sent out 46 winners already this season, which speaks to a yard that clearly knows how to get horses performing. Lambourn is one of the great training centres in Britain, and a trainer with that kind of output this season is no also-ran. If there's a path forward for Go For Gold, it's in good hands to find it — though the horse itself will need to show something it hasn't yet. It raced just yesterday, so whatever comes next won't be far away.