Saucy Jane

The Beverley win remains the highlight. That track on the Yorkshire coast is quirky and unforgiving in ways that sort horses out quickly, so winning there means something. The fact that Saucy Jane has not built on it since is the puzzle her trainer Jack Morland will be trying to solve. Morland operates out of Newmarket — the heartland of British flat racing — and his yard has sent out 14 winners already this season, which shows the stable is in decent health. The horses are clearly fit and ready; Saucy Jane just needs to find her moment.

At the level she typically competes at — the fourth tier of British racing, a busy, competitive grade for horses of her kind — she has actually won 1 from 4, a rate of 1 in 4, or 25%. That is genuinely respectable. It suggests she is not out of her depth at that level; she simply has not put it all together often enough. The three placed finishes in her career record show she is regularly in the mix, which is encouraging. She raced just yesterday, so she is clearly in training and being kept busy, even if the winner's enclosure feels a long way off right now.

At three years old, there is still time. Horses often take a while to find their best form and their ideal conditions, and a yard producing winners at Morland's current rate is unlikely to be giving up on her. Whether she can rediscover the spark she showed at Beverley is the question worth watching.