Red One

Nicky Henderson, based at Upper Lambourn in Berkshire, has sent out 90 winners already this season. That is a remarkable volume of success and puts his yard firmly among the elite operations in the country. When a horse with no wins yet is being trained by someone operating at that level, it tells you the horse has been thought worth the investment of serious, top-drawer preparation. Red One finished second last time out, just one day ago, so the team will already be thinking about where to run next and how to turn that placing into a first victory.

At five years old, Red One is at a reasonable stage of a racing career — old enough to have some experience, young enough to have plenty of time to develop. One race is almost nothing to judge a horse on, and a second-place finish on debut is genuinely encouraging rather than a disappointment. The goal now is simple: find the right race and go one better.