Maarisha

The recent form makes for difficult reading. Her last six results, reading from most recent backwards, read 16-7-4-7-3-5. That sequence tells a fairly consistent story: occasionally threatening, never quite delivering. The third-place finish is the closest she has come to troubling the judge, but a sixteenth is also in there, which suggests she can have her off days too. Jockey Adam Browne-Souza has been in the saddle for six of those nine races and is yet to ride her to a win — though it would be unfair to pin that on him alone given the horse simply hasn't found a way to the front yet.

She is trained by W P Browne at a yard based in Fethard, County Tipperary, and the operation has sent out two winners this season — modest output that suggests this isn't a powerhouse stable churning out winners week after week. That context matters: a horse from a smaller yard, returning from a lengthy break, with no wins to her name, needs everything to click at once. The five-month absence is the most intriguing variable here. Breaks can mean many things — a minor setback, a deliberate freshening up, or a change of plan — but they can also transform a horse. Occasionally a young horse just needs time and space to mature, and comes back sharper for it.

At this stage, Maarisha is a horse that anyone following her will know requires patience. She hasn't won yet, but she is still only three, and three-year-olds can improve quickly. The question is whether this return from a break marks the start of something, or simply more of the same.