Piazza San Marco

What really frames this horse's story, though, is who is standing in the other corner. Trainer A P O'Brien, based at Cashel in County Tipperary, is one of the most powerful operations in European racing, and this season alone the yard has sent out 145 winners. That is not a stable that wastes its time with horses it doesn't believe in. The fact that Piazza San Marco has been given a run in that famous blue and gold colours and picked up a win already tells you the team see something worth developing here.

The one question mark heading into any upcoming run is fitness. Piazza San Marco has been off the track for around five months — a significant break for a young horse still figuring things out. The most recent form reads 4-1-7, meaning a win sandwiched between a modest fourth and a seventh, so the profile is a little uneven. A horse returning from that kind of absence can go one of two ways: rustier than expected, or freshened up and ready to run a career-best. With a yard producing winners at the rate O'Brien's is this season, you'd expect the team to know exactly where this horse is.

Still only three years old, Piazza San Marco is at the stage where a lot of horses start to find their feet and work out what they are. The win at Galway is a foundation to build from, not a ceiling.