Revoir

She has spent most of her racing life at the highest level — six of her ten races have come in Class 1 company, the very top tier of British racing — and she has not won any of them. That might sound like a failure, but it also tells you something important: her team clearly believe she belongs up there. The problem is not a lack of ability; it is, by Beckett's own admission, a matter of finding the right race at the right time. She needs ten or twelve furlongs — middle to longer distances — and getting that campaign exactly right has proved harder than expected.

Jockey Hector Crouch has been her regular partner, riding her five times without a win between them. That is not necessarily a criticism of either horse or rider; when you are running in the best races against the best horses, even very good horses come home without the prize. What it does mean is that the combination is still searching for that breakthrough together.

Beckett's plan for the coming weeks gives a real sense of what he thinks she is capable of. He has mentioned the Hedge of Oak at Haydock as a near-term target, with the Lester Piggott Stakes and the Lancashire Oaks — a race restricted to older female horses and one of the more prestigious summer prizes — potentially to follow. Those are serious ambitions. The yard has sent out 107 winners already this season, so this is not a team short of confidence or form. Revoir, it seems, is the one still waiting for her moment — and the people around her clearly think it is coming.