Lilly Lux

The real puzzle is her recent form. In her last six races, the only bright spot was a second place sandwiched between a disappointing sixth, a fourth, two thirds, and a third again most recently. That suggests the Wolverhampton win hasn't sparked a dramatic upswing — she's gone back to her habit of being thereabouts but not quite getting the job done. When she steps up to Class 5 company, the toughest level she regularly faces, the picture darkens: she's run four times at that grade and failed to win any of them, finding the jump in quality too steep.

George Baker's yard at Epsom Downs has been steady this season with 14 winners trained out, so it's not as though she's with an unsuccessful operation. At five years old and still searching for a second win, time is beginning to matter for Lilly Lux. She raced just yesterday, so she remains actively campaigned and clearly does enough in training to warrant regular opportunities. The question now is whether that breakthrough win at Wolverhampton was a genuine turning point or an outlier — and whether she can find another one before her the yard decide to move on.