Reforme

That Fakenham win is worth paying attention to. The curious detail buried in the record is that Reforme had run ten times at the level where it usually competes — Class 4, which sits in the middle of the racing ladder — without winning once. The breakthrough came, and recent form suggests something has clicked: looking at the last six runs in reverse order, the sequence reads a sixth, a fifth, a second, then a win, a fourth, and a third. That is a horse trending sharply in the right direction, not one fading away.

Robert Dunne rides Reforme more than anyone else, and their partnership has produced that one win from seven races together — roughly 1 in every 7 rides ending in victory, which at 14% is actually a decent return for a horse operating at this level. Trainer Tom Gretton, based in Inkberrow in Worcestershire, has sent out 12 winners already this season, so this is a yard in form and clearly capable of placing a horse right.

Reforme hasn't raced for 89 days, which counts as a short break rather than a long absence. Horses often return from a brief rest sharper than they left, and given the upward curve in recent form, there is genuine reason to think this one comes back ready to go again. The next chapter should be interesting.