Imelda

She ran just a day ago, so this is a horse right in the middle of her season, and her the yard will be hoping that elusive first win is just around the corner. The sequence of 2-3-3 (reading oldest to most recent) shows she has actually been running into slightly deeper placings of late, which is worth watching — whether that is a sign of tougher competition or a horse that needs things to fall her way.

Imelda is trained by David Loughnane at his yard in Stoke Heath, Shropshire, and she is part of a stable that clearly knows how to win races. Thirty-eight winners in a single season is a serious number — that is roughly one every week, the kind of output that marks out a yard operating with real purpose and quality. When a trainer is firing in winners at that rate, it suggests the horses in the stable are placed well and ready when they run. Imelda has not found the winner's enclosure yet, but she is in good hands, and the form she has shown suggests it may only be a matter of time.