Mr Montauk

The recent form is a mixed picture. A fifth-place finish, then a gap in racing, then a tenth, and most recently a third — so the arrow is pointing in the right direction. Third place in the latest run, just one day ago, means Mr Montauk is very much in the middle of his season right now, with whoever is running him clearly keen to keep him busy and learning.

The trainer behind him is Joseph Patrick O'Brien, operating out of Owning Hill in County Kilkenny, and that is a significant detail. O'Brien's yard has sent out 160 winners already this season — a remarkable volume that puts him among the most productive operations in Irish racing. A yard firing at that rate does not waste its time on horses without potential, so the fact that Mr Montauk keeps getting runs is quietly telling. Sometimes a young horse just needs races under its belt before everything clicks, and with a trainer of this calibre holding the reins, patience is likely part of the plan.

At two years old, it is genuinely too early to write any conclusions about this horse. Some of the best horses to have raced took time to find their feet in their first season. For now, Mr Montauk is a horse still learning its job — in a very good school.