Marty Hopkirk

That Wolverhampton win is worth holding onto as a marker. It shows he can do it, and on a track that suits a certain kind of runner — Wolverhampton's all-weather surface rewards horses that handle a tight, turning circuit — getting it right there is no fluke. The fact he has not added to it since is the puzzle his trainer David Loughnane will be trying to solve.

Loughnane, based at Stoke Heath in Shropshire, has had a productive season by any measure — 38 winners sent out so far, which is a yard operating with real momentum. Before Marty Hopkirk had even raced, Loughnane was quietly enthusiastic, describing him as a full brother to Commander Straker but a noticeably more athletic individual — stronger, better built, and with the physical presence of a horse who might develop into something above average. That is exactly the kind of private confidence trainers rarely share unless they mean it.

He raced just yesterday, so he is very much a live, active runner. At four, he is at an age where horses often consolidate and start to deliver on early promise. The record so far — one win from seven races — is unspectacular, but a horse with this kind of physical profile, trained by a yard in good form, and with a win already on the board, is not one to write off. The question is whether the Wolverhampton performance was a glimpse of what he can do regularly, or just the one day everything clicked. The next few races should start to give a clearer answer.