La Marquise

The clues lie in her recent form and the ground beneath her feet. She loves wet, muddy conditions—winning two of four races on those surfaces, a 50 per cent win rate that stands out sharply against her overall record. More recently, in her last six races, she has picked up a couple of places but no victories: fourth, fifth, second in her final three outings suggest she is competing but not quite getting over the line. Gavin Sheehan, her most regular pilot, has ridden her nine times and won three of those (33 per cent), a partnership that works well when the pieces fall into place.

Snowden has spoken about how La Marquise lost her way after her debut win at Stratford-on-Avon in November 2023, and how she needed time away to recharge last season. The trainer's hope is that she can now build on her handicap mark and rediscover the form she showed at Ludlow, where she displayed the sort of grit and character that separates honest racehorses from the rest. That day she jumped a little too eagerly, got caught in traffic, was hit hard at the third-last, and looked beaten—but she got up and won going away. That kind of toughness does not disappear. If wet ground comes her way and she finds the right race, La Marquise has shown enough heart to remind people why she won in the first place.