Moonfall

His one win came at Newbury in June last year, and it was the kind of performance that sticks in the memory for the right reasons. Jockey Billy Loughnane noted that Moonfall had a flat spot two furlongs out but still got the job done, and made the point that stepping up in distance on a flat track seemed to unlock something in the horse. The raw material is there — Loughnane described him as a "good, moving horse" who handled the conditions without trouble and would likely be just as effective on fast, dry ground. His half-brother Soprano apparently thrives on quick summer tracks, so the family form backs that up.

What makes the absence meaningful is what happened before it. After that Newbury win, Moonfall ran in the Superlative Stakes — one of the top races in Britain for horses his age — and came seventh, well below expectations. Boughey has since said the horse simply wasn't right after that run, which explains the long break. Nine months off is not a routine winter rest; it is a deliberate reset, and the fact that Boughey is now talking enthusiastically about him again suggests Moonfall has come back in good shape.

The trainer has drawn a comparison to Celeborn, a horse from the same yard who had a notable season the year before, and has floated the Britannia — a prestigious flat race run at Royal Ascot — as a potential target. That is an ambitious aim, but Boughey's yard has sent out 99 winners this season alone, which tells you this is an operation that does not make empty promises. When a trainer of that calibre pencils in a Royal Ascot race for a returning horse, it is worth paying attention. Moonfall has only four races behind him, but the ones that matter have shown enough.