Jupiter Ammon

Trained by Andrew Balding at Kingsclere in Hampshire, Jupiter Ammon is part of one of the most productive yards in the country right now. Balding's team has sent out 204 winners this season alone — that is a remarkable volume, and it tells you this is not a yard that keeps horses around out of sentiment. If Jupiter Ammon keeps getting runs, they believe there is something there worth developing.

The recent form makes for intriguing reading. In the last six races, the sequence reads 6-2-2-5-3-4 (working back from the latest). Two consecutive second-place finishes sit in the middle of that run, which means Jupiter Ammon has been beaten by a single horse on more than one occasion. That is either encouraging or maddening depending on how you look at it — the talent is obvious, the finishing touch is not. It raced just yesterday, so it is right in the thick of things at the moment.

At Class 4 level — a solid mid-tier competition, not the very top of the sport but a genuine test — it has run four times without winning. That is not a disgrace, but it does suggest the horse may need things to fall perfectly right for it to break through. The trainer clearly has faith: the runs keep coming, and yesterday's outing shows the team is keeping Jupiter Ammon active and looking for the right opportunity. Sooner or later, a horse this consistent in filling the places tends to find a race it can win. The question for Jupiter Ammon is simply when.