Montecam

What makes Montecam worth watching right now is the picture his trainer painted last October. The horse had spent the summer away from the yard, and when he came back he was described as being in fantastic shape — the kind of comment trainers don't throw around lightly. There was clear excitement about the season ahead, and a hint that jumping fences might be on the agenda, which would represent a step into new territory. Horses who switch disciplines sometimes find a new lease of life, and a mark of 121 gives him something to work with.

His most regular partner in the saddle is Nico de Boinville, one of the better-known jump jockeys in Britain, and together they have won 1 from 7 — that's 14%, which is actually a healthier return than Montecam's overall record suggests. At Class 4 level, the bread-and-butter tier of jump racing, he has won 1 from 5, a 20% win rate that is genuinely solid at that grade. The trouble is he has rarely been tested higher, which leaves something of a question mark over his ceiling.

He raced just yesterday, so he is bang in the middle of an active campaign. After a long wait for a second win, the combination of a refreshed horse, an experienced jockey, and a trainer who sounds quietly confident adds up to something that merits attention. Whether the fence-jumping experiment arrives soon or not, Montecam looks like a horse whose story is still being written.