My Chiquita

The numbers that really stand out are on normal ground over long distances of two miles or more. In those conditions, she has won 4 of 11 races — 36% — which is a genuinely impressive hit rate. That figure suggests she is not just a consistent plodder but a horse with real strengths when conditions suit. There is a slight puzzle in her record, though: she has raced 13 times at Class 5 level — the bread-and-butter tier of British racing — without winning once. Her six wins have come elsewhere, which hints at a horse who performs better when stepped up in company or given the right track. Make of that what you will.

She is trained by James Moffatt at Cartmel in Cumbria, a small yard that has sent out 11 winners this season — a healthy total that suggests a trainer in form. Moffatt's comments from late 2023 are revealing: he was already talking about building her profile with a view to her future as a broodmare, and had ambitions of taking her to the prestigious mares' meeting at Cheltenham. That tells you this was always a horse with a bit of status attached to her — not just a horse picked up to fill races. A post-race comment after her Sedgefield win also mentioned she had lost her half-brother, lending her story a quietly poignant dimension.

Her recent form is the most compelling part of the picture right now. After two fifth-place finishes, she has reeled off four consecutive top-three results, including a win at Cartmel just this week — her home track, fittingly enough. She raced just yesterday, which means she is bang in form and clearly thriving. Her first career win came at Nottingham in June 2023, and she has added five more since. At seven, she is in the prime of her racing life, and right now everything points to a horse at the top of her game.