Gstaad

What makes those numbers even more striking is the consistency behind them. He has finished in the top two in every single one of his seven races — three wins and four second places, a record that reads 2-1-2-2-2-1 across his last six runs. Win roughly 43 in every 100 races you enter — that's 3 from 7 — and you're operating at a level most horses never reach. The places aren't near-misses to feel sorry about either; they include a second at Newmarket's Dewhurst Stakes, where his jockey felt he was caught in traffic after jumping smartly, unable to find a clear run at a crucial moment. The team believed there was more in the tank, and the Breeders' Cup victory proved them right.

Trainer Aidan O'Brien, who runs one of the most powerful yards in racing — 138 winners already this season from his base in Cashel, County Tipperary — has spoken openly about not being afraid to let Gstaad race more freely. His jockey at Del Mar described the win with striking simplicity: "I didn't do anything really, I think Gstaad is just good." That is not false modesty. A horse that travels that easily through a race, spots a gap in the back straight, and idles into the lead knowing the job is done before the final turn is a horse with a natural confidence that you cannot teach.

O'Brien has already flagged the English or Irish 2,000 Guineas as the next major target — the season's first Classic races for three-year-olds. Last ran just a day ago and still active, Gstaad heads into that campaign with the kind of record that justifies serious expectations.