Kimi De Mai

The one blot on the form sheet is a 14th-place finish sitting in the middle of that sequence, which stands out sharply against the otherwise tidy placed efforts. Every horse has a bad day, and that result looks like the exception rather than the rule. The more telling pattern is the three thirds either side of it — a horse that keeps showing up, keeps hitting the frame, but keeps finding one or two too good.

At six years old, Kimi De Mai is not short of experience, and the 56-day break since its last race could prove significant. Short breaks like this often mean a yard has spotted something to work on at home, or simply that a fresher horse runs better. Either way, it returns with a clean bill of health and that consistent placed form still intact.

The name behind the operation carries enormous weight. Willie Mullins, based in Co Carlow, is one of the most successful racehorse trainers in the world, and his yard has sent out 237 winners already this season — a number that represents a relentless, almost industrial level of success. When a horse comes out of that stable, it has been prepared by people who know exactly what they are doing. The puzzle with Kimi De Mai is not the quality of the training; it is finding the right race for a horse that has shown it can place but has not yet found the front. For now, the question is whether the first win is just around the corner, or whether this is simply a horse destined to make other winners look good.