Miss Friday Lions

Her recent form gives her supporters something to hold onto. A third-place finish sits among her last six runs, and she was fifth in another — not the performances of a horse that is completely out of her depth, but equally not one that looks likely to burst through for a first victory any time soon. Nathan Moscrop, who has been in the saddle for seven of her ten races, is yet to steer her home in front, and that partnership will need to find something extra if the scoreboard is going to change.

She typically races at Class 4 level, which sits in the middle tier of British racing — competitive enough that you need to bring your best, but not the elite company reserved for the sport's star names. In four races at that level, she has not won once, though her placed efforts suggest she is not simply making up the numbers.

What makes her situation interesting is the yard she operates from. Trainer Rebecca Menzies, based in Morden, Durham, has sent out 36 winners already this season — a genuinely productive yard that clearly knows how to get horses ready to win. That means the training operation is doing its job; Miss Friday Lions just needs the pieces to fall into place on the right day. She raced just yesterday, so she is firmly in the thick of things, and with a trainer in this kind of form, it would be unwise to write her off entirely. Sometimes a horse just needs one moment to click — and when it does, all those near-misses suddenly look like the education that made it possible.