Lord

His recent sequence — 9-2-1-6-1-1 reading back from his last run — shows a horse who is broadly consistent, with that ninth-place finish looking like the odd one out rather than the norm. Three wins from his last six races is the kind of form that gets people excited, and even at the top level (Class 1 races, where he has run three times), he has won one in three. That is a respectable return at the highest tier, where most horses are simply trying to keep up.

Trainer Donald McCain, based at Cholmondeley in Cheshire, is one of the most productive yards in the country right now — 55 winners this season alone. He came into possession of Lord after the horse had won three hurdle races for another trainer, reportedly fetching £70,000 at auction, and his assessment since has been straightforward: the horse jumps well, wins impressively, and is professional and honest under pressure. That last point matters. At Aintree in December, McCain admitted the ground was probably softer than Lord would have preferred — wetter than ideal — and yet he won anyway. A horse that can perform outside its comfort zone is a more reliable proposition than one that needs everything to go perfectly.

The plan from here appears to involve a race called the Fred Winter, a competitive spring target, with a potential stop at Musselburgh along the way. McCain has also floated the idea of running on the Flat at some point, suggesting Lord has the raw ability to compete in a completely different discipline. For a horse that only got started last August, that range of options speaks to genuine versatility — and a team that clearly believes they are working with something rather good.