Monte A Bord

Trained by the father-and-son partnership of Michael and David Easterby at their Sheriff Hutton yard in North Yorkshire, Monte A Bord is part of a stable that clearly knows how to get horses ready to win. Fifty-one winners in a single season is no small feat — that is the kind of output that puts a yard firmly in the conversation as one of the more productive operations in the north of England, and it suggests the team around this horse have the experience to know when and where to place it to best effect.

At five years old, Monte A Bord is at a stage where most horses are starting to show you exactly what they are. The recent form — a fourth last time out, sandwiched around that win and a runner-up finish — tells the story of a horse that is competitive without yet being dominant. The question now is whether that Newcastle win was a sign of things to come or a high-water mark. Given the yard's record and the horse's consistency in placing, there is plenty of reason to stay interested.