Perfect Price

That said, context matters. Perfect Price only raced yesterday, so this is very much a horse still in the middle of its story. Three-year-olds are often still learning, still filling out physically, and still working out what racing is actually asking of them. Some horses take time to click, and a trainer with Brian Ellison's record deserves at least a little patience. Ellison's yard in Norton, North Yorkshire, has sent out 47 winners already this season — that is the output of a stable that knows what it is doing and has horses good enough to keep winning. When a yard is operating at that level, the horses around them tend to benefit from good horsemanship and smart placement.

The honest read on Perfect Price right now is that it has not shown us much — but it has also not shown us everything. Whether it turns the corner will depend on whether Ellison can find the right opportunity to unlock whatever potential sits underneath these modest early results.