In The Post

The recent form reads 7-3-2-3, and working backwards through that tells you something useful. The debut was forgettable — a seventh — but since then, In The Post has barely put a foot wrong, placing in each of the three races that followed. That improvement from seventh to a run of thirds and seconds is the kind of upward curve that keeps a trainer interested. The question now is whether the next step is a win, or whether there's a ceiling here.

Dylan Cunha trains the horse out of Newmarket, which is about as central as it gets in British racing — the town essentially exists for the sport, and the competition for stable spots is fierce. Cunha's yard has been in good form this season, sending out 47 winners, so In The Post is operating in a professional, well-resourced environment. That matters, because a horse returning from a six-month break needs careful handling, and Cunha clearly knows how to keep horses ticking over.

That break is the biggest unknown here. Six months away is a long time, and horses come back from spells off in all kinds of shape — some return sharper, some need a race to find their rhythm again. In The Post has been running at Class 5 level, which is the entry point of the sport, so there's still plenty of room to climb if the talent is there. Zero wins from four races at that level does raise questions, but three places suggests it belongs — it just hasn't found the right moment yet. Whether that moment comes on the comeback is the interesting part.