Saxon Gem

What makes the next chapter worth watching is who is doing the teaching. Saxon Gem is trained by Jim Goldie, whose yard in Uplawmoor, Lanarkshire has sent out 91 winners this season alone — a figure that puts the operation firmly among the busier and more productive stables in the country. When a trainer is firing in winners at that kind of volume, horses returning from a break tend to come back ready to run. Goldie is not a name that sends horses out half-fit.

Saxon Gem has everything still to prove, but being a two-year-old with only two races in the book means the story is nowhere near written. Plenty of horses take a few runs to find their feet, and a long winter break can sometimes be exactly what a young horse needs to fill out and mature. Whether Saxon Gem turns out to be a late developer or simply one who needs to find the right opportunity remains to be seen — but in a yard producing winners at this rate, the tools are certainly there.