Little Miss Magic

What makes Little Miss Magic worth understanding is that she has placed eight times in those 28 races, meaning she has finished in the frame more than a quarter of the time. She is not a horse that runs badly and disappears — she is one that runs just well enough, regularly enough, to suggest there is something there. Whether that something ever translates into a second win is the question her team at Baughurst in Hampshire have been trying to answer for nearly two years.

Her regular partner Isobelle Chalmers has ridden her 12 times without a win between them, which is a long run of near-misses for any combination. And most of Little Miss Magic's races have come at Class 6, the lowest tier of British racing — yet even there she has not managed to win in 15 attempts at that level. Her recent form reads 7-6-7-3-10 from her last six outings, with a blank in between, and she raced just yesterday, which tells you the yard is keeping her busy and believing.

Chamings has sent out nine winners from his yard this season, so this is not an operation without firepower. Little Miss Magic simply remains the one that keeps promising and keeps falling just short. She raced yesterday, which means the search for win number two is very much ongoing — and Bath, the only track where she has ever got her head in front, might yet be the place where the story takes its next turn.