Leonato

What is worth paying attention to, though, is who has him in training. George Boughey operates out of Newmarket, the heartland of British flat racing, and his yard has sent out 107 winners already this season — a number that puts him firmly among the most productive trainers in the country right now. A trainer hitting that kind of volume is not doing it by accident; it means the whole operation, from staff to horses to race planning, is running well. When a horse with Leonato's limited experience comes out of a yard in that sort of form, the next run is genuinely worth watching, even if the debut gave little away.

One race tells you almost nothing about a young horse. At two years old, they are still learning what racing even is. A ninth-place finish on debut can mean a hundred different things, and a four-month break afterwards suggests the team have taken their time rather than rushed him back. That patience is often a good sign.