Rhodes Runner

What makes the picture more encouraging is the company Rhodes Runner is keeping. Ralph Beckett's yard at Kimpton in Hampshire is one of the sharpest operations in the country this season, having sent out 107 winners already — that is the kind of volume that puts Beckett firmly in the conversation among Britain's leading trainers. When a yard is operating at that level, they tend to know exactly which horses are ready to race and which races suit them. The fact that Rhodes Runner is still being aimed at races suggests the team believe the win will come.

Raced just yesterday and still active, this is a horse whose story is very much being written in real time. The recent run of 4-3-2 in reverse — improving with each outing — is the kind of trajectory that catches the eye. A horse climbing the placings over its first three races is learning its job, and the hope from Beckett's perspective will be that one more step forward puts Rhodes Runner in the winner's enclosure for the first time.