Pintara

The three-year-old began her career at Salisbury in August, winning a Class 2 race on debut. That alone would turn heads, but what followed made the real statement: a step up to a Class 1 race at Newmarket in November — one of the most prestigious tracks in British racing, where the best horses tend to find each other out — and Pintara won that too. Going from a first-ever race to beating top-level competition in the space of three months is the kind of progression that makes people sit up and pay attention.

She is trained in France by F-H Graffard, whose yard has sent out 6 winners this season, and the team clearly had enough confidence in Pintara to aim her straight at the top shelf rather than ease her gradually through the ranks. That decision looks very smart in hindsight. She has been off the track for roughly five months since that Newmarket win, so there will be plenty of curiosity about how she returns — but a horse that has won 2 from 2, including a top-level race, comes back with enormous goodwill and expectation attached.