Merlin Allen

The record reads one win and three placed finishes from three races, which works out as winning 1 in every 3 races it has contested. That is a strong ratio at this early stage of a career, and the recent form figure of 3-3-1 tells its own story: third, third, then a winner. Merlin Allen has been consistently competitive, never out of the places, which suggests a horse that turns up ready to race every time.

Behind the horse is trainer Jane Williams, operating out of George Nympton in Devon. It is a long way from the big training centres of Newmarket or Lambourn, but Williams has sent out 21 winners already this season — proof that quality does not require a postcode. A yard producing at that rate knows what it is doing, and Merlin Allen looks like one of the more promising horses in the string.

With just three races on the clock and a Aintree win already to its name, the question now is where Merlin Allen goes next. This is a horse with plenty still to show.