My Maria

That sole victory came at Wolverhampton on 26 August, and she returned to the same track two weeks later to win again, suggesting she has found a course where she understands what is being asked of her. For a juvenile, that kind of track affinity is worth noting. Her win rate sits at roughly one in every seven races, which sounds modest on paper, but her recent record tells a different story: she has picked up a place in five of her last six races, with two seconds and two other placings alongside her latest win. That is the shape of a horse who is racing competitively and knocking on the door regularly.

She is trained by Archie Watson at Upper Lambourn, a yard that has sent out 62 winners this season alone, so she is in a stable accustomed to getting the most out of young horses. Still only a two-year-old and racing just yesterday, My Maria is very much a work in progress, but the pattern of her recent form — place after place, punctuated by wins at the track she seems to suit — suggests she has started to figure out what she is doing.