Rochfortbridge

The trickier part of the picture is what happens when the level rises. All three of Rochfortbridge's races at Class 1 — the top tier of British racing — have ended without a win, leaving it 0 from 3 at that grade. That is not unusual for a three-year-old stepping up in class, but it does suggest the horse is still proving itself against the very best. Winning at Class 1 level is genuinely hard; these are the races where the best horses in the country show up, and simply competing in them says something about how the team views this horse's ceiling.

Adrian Paul Keatley trains out of Ryedale in North Yorkshire, and the yard has been in fine form this season with 42 winners already sent out — a strong indication that this is a stable operating with confidence and momentum. Rochfortbridge raced just three days ago and remains in active training, so there is clearly more to come from this horse in the current season. At three years old, it is at exactly the age when horses tend to take the biggest steps forward, and with that Ayr win already banked, the question now is whether it can translate that form into results at a higher level.