Mythical Bird

Her trainer Hughie Morrison, whose yard at East Ilsley in Berkshire has sent out 20 winners already this season, has clearly identified what brings the best out of her. At distances between a mile and three furlongs and a mile and four furlongs, she wins 1 in every 5 races — a genuinely healthy rate that stands in sharp contrast to her record at shorter trips. Morrison noted earlier in the year that she'd been desperately unlucky, going down by just a head at Wolverhampton on her seasonal debut. A head is the width of a hand. That kind of near-miss tends to mean a win isn't far away.

Her recent form figures — 10-11-3-1-6-4 reading from oldest to newest — show a horse that found her moment and has since been finding her feet again. The 1 is that Lingfield victory; the 10 and 11 either side of it are worth keeping in perspective. Morrison flagged that an eighth-place run at Goodwood came on ground and a track that simply didn't suit her — a useful reminder that horses, like people, perform better in some environments than others. She has raced just once since her win and remains active, which means this story is still being written.

At four years old and competing mostly at Class 5 level — the bread-and-butter tier of British racing — Mythical Bird isn't a superstar. But she's a horse with a clear profile: get her over a mile and three or four furlongs, on a track that suits, and she can be competitive. Morrison's yard is in good form, the horse has recent confidence from that win, and there's every reason to think she can find the winner's enclosure again before long.