Perfect Part

The backstory adds a nice layer. Brown picked her up cheaply because she was a late foal and on the small side — two things that can put buyers off at auction. But as Ellison noted, those were mitigating circumstances, not flaws. She had been utterly professional on debut when plenty of young horses run green and lose their heads. The speed was real.

What's happened since is the tricky part. That Beverley win remains her only victory from 18 races — a win rate of just 6%, or roughly 1 in every 18 outings. Over the shorter distances where she performs best, 5 to 6 and a half furlongs, she's won 1 from 8, which is a little better but still modest. The bulk of her recent racing has come at the very top level — Class 1 — and she has yet to win there in six attempts. That's not a disgrace; Class 1 races are the hardest races in Britain, and simply competing at that level says something about the yard's ambitions for her. Brian Ellison's operation is in fine form this season, having sent out 43 winners, so the faith is clearly still there.

She last raced just yesterday and hasn't won in her last six outings, the best of those a second place. That Beverley performance was 25 months ago now, and the clock is ticking on whether she can recapture it. Still only four years old and clearly quick enough to beat good horses on her day, Perfect Part remains a horse with something to prove — but also, undeniably, something to build on.