God Given Talent

What matters here is the yard he is in. William Haggas's Newmarket operation has sent out 170 winners this season—the kind of number that marks a trainer working at the top of the game with top-quality horses. Haggas does not waste his time on plodders, which means God Given Talent has earned his place in a serious yard, even if his racecourse evidence remains slender. The four-month gap since his last win is worth noting: horses are often given time between races at this age to develop, and the fact he has raced five times in what appears to be a condensed spell suggests the trainer is testing him over different distances and conditions to work out what suits. That last run, just yesterday, looks like part of that education rather than a sign of decline.

This is a horse at the beginning of his story. One win from five races is unremarkable on paper, but Haggas's confidence in him is worth taking seriously. Give him time and the right opportunities, and God Given Talent may yet justify the faith.