Sancerre Rock

What does offer some encouragement is the yard behind the horse. Andrew Slattery, training out of Thurles in County Tipperary, has sent out 60 winners already this season — that's a team clearly operating in good form, with the numbers to prove it. When a trainer is firing at that kind of volume, the horses in their care tend to be well-prepared and well-placed, which suggests Sancerre Rock will get every chance to find its way into the winner's enclosure when the right opportunity comes along.

With a race just yesterday, this is a horse very much in the thick of its campaign. The question now is whether a third run — with more experience in the tank — starts to show something different.