Lirone Du Seuil

The five-year-old is a new arrival at Dan Skelton's yard in Alcester, Warwickshire, one of the most productive training operations in the country — 194 winners this season alone, which works out at roughly one winner every other day. Skelton has noted that the horse ran with credit in France before joining the yard, and after plenty of work at home he sounds ready to show what he can do. The trainer believes he will eventually be better over a longer trip, and sees this current run of races as a learning phase before the horse heads over fences. Coming back from a three-month absence, this next run will tell a lot more than the first two have.

In short: the record is blank, but the yard is bullish, and a horse that has done enough to interest a trainer of Skelton's calibre is worth keeping an eye on as the season develops.