Martial Order

What gives the story a more optimistic angle is who is doing the teaching. Martial Order is trained by Paul Midgley at his yard in Westow, North Yorkshire, and Midgley has been in sharp form this season — 39 winners sent out already is a serious number, the kind of output that puts a trainer firmly in the conversation among the busier and more successful yards in the north. When a trainer is operating at that level, they tend to know which horses have more to offer and which are simply making up the numbers.

Martial Order ran just one day ago, so this is a horse in the thick of its campaign right now. Three races at two years old leaves plenty of time for improvement — some horses simply take a while to switch on, and a yard firing out winners at Midgley's current rate is well placed to find the right opportunity.