Lion Of Persia

So far, Lion of Persia has run once and finished eighth — no wins, no places. That single run doesn't tell us much on its own, and there's a reason to cut him some slack: he banged his leg in the starting gate that day, which is a rough way to begin your racing life. He's since had a week off to recover and is back in light work, with Cowell hoping to have him back on a racecourse within a fortnight.

What the trainer does say about him is encouraging. He describes Lion of Persia as a good-looking, well-built horse who has been working nicely at home, and thinks he'll be well-suited to six furlongs — a sharp, straight-line test of speed that suits a lot of young horses. The one thing the team are working on is getting him more alert out of the starting gate. At the moment he's a touch slow to break, which at this level can cost you several lengths before you've even started racing. Fix that, and you might see a very different horse.

In short: one run, one difficult experience, and a trainer who still sounds quietly optimistic. He's very much a work in progress, but the foundations sound solid.