Gozo

What made that Plumpton win both exciting and slightly exasperating in equal measure was the manner of it. Trainer Ben Brookhouse described Gozo as so gifted that he simply does enough to win and no more — schooling impeccably one day, then deliberately going low the next. On the day he won, he idled late having led from the front, conserving energy as though he had somewhere better to be. A horse that can switch effort on and off like that is talented, without question. Whether he will ever fully commit to showing it is the question his team have been wrestling with ever since.

After that win, a small setback ruled out an ambitious entry in a Cheltenham trial. Andrew Hamilton, who trains Gozo from an undisclosed yard that has sent out 3 winners this season, had been eyeing competitive targets but ultimately had to shelve them. There was even talk of a trip to the United States in the spring of 2024 to chase prize money over hurdles before potentially selling him on — a plan that suggests the team were weighing up where his future lay. His current form, finishing eighth twice and fourth once across his last six races without troubling the winner, hasn't done much to resolve that question.

Where Gozo does look most at home is over longer trips of two miles or more, where he has won 1 from 3 races — a hit rate of 1 in 3, which stands out sharply against his overall record. At his typical level, Class 4 races, he has converted just 1 from 9. A horse capable of winning 1 in 3 races over distance but only 1 in 9 at his bread-and-butter level is a puzzle wrapped in a riddle. He raced just yesterday, so the story is still very much live — but until Gozo decides to stop idling and start racing, his single win at Plumpton will remain the chapter everyone keeps flicking back to.