Premier Rogue

The recent form, however, makes grim reading. Back in the earlier part of the sequence, Premier Rogue was finishing third twice in a row — close enough to make the yard optimistic. Since then, the wheels have come off. Finishes of 11th, 14th, 9th, and a blank in the most recent outing tell a story of a horse that is either struggling to find its best form or simply finding life tough at its current level. Racing just one day ago, it is very much a live part of the yard's current plans, so the team clearly have not given up on finding the right opportunity.

That yard is trained by Noel Meade, one of the most experienced operators in Irish racing, based at Castletown in County Meath. Meade has sent out 42 winners already this season, which is a genuinely productive operation — that kind of volume means Meade knows how to place horses to give them every chance of winning. If Premier Rogue has a win in it, Meade is well-placed to find the spot where it happens. The question is whether the horse can recapture anything like that early promise of back-to-back third-place finishes, or whether those results were the ceiling rather than a stepping stone.