Home Hero

Both wins came at decent tracks. The first breakthrough arrived at Sandown Park on 29 July, and Home Hero returned to the winner's enclosure at Haydock Park on 8 August, which matters because consistency across different courses is a sign of a genuinely improving horse rather than a one-track specialist. The recent form does contain some rougher patches: a fourth place, a seventh, and a ninth are scattered through the last six races, so there is still plenty of inconsistency to iron out. But a three-year-old that has just recorded back-to-back wins within days of each other and is currently active on the racecourse is one worth watching.

Trained by Hugo Palmer at Malpas in Cheshire, Home Hero is part of a yard that has already sent out 67 winners this season, which speaks to the quality of horsemanship on hand. Palmer's team clearly knows how to prepare a horse to peak at the right moment, and the fact that Home Hero is racing regularly suggests the trainer believes there is more to come. At just three years old, with only eleven races under its belt and two wins to show for it, this horse is very much a work in progress — but the last few weeks have hinted at what that progress could look like.