Senorita Vega

Her two wins tell an interesting story about her progression. The first came at Brighton in late May, which is where plenty of young horses find their feet for the first time. The second, and more important, arrived at Newbury in September — a much stiffer test at a track that attracts better horses and bigger crowds. Moving from Brighton to Newbury and still winning suggests she was developing nicely through the summer.

That said, her record in the top races gives a clearer picture of where she currently sits. In three races at Class 1 level — the highest tier of British racing — she is yet to win, going 0 from 3. That is not a failure; those are races against the very best horses in the country, and simply being entered in them shows the team at Upper Lambourn believe she belongs in that company. She just hasn't cracked it at that level yet.

Her recent form reads 4-3-1-2-4-10 going back through her last six races — so a winner, a runner-up, two more placed efforts, and a couple of disappointing days. It is the kind of form that says she is genuinely competitive when things go right, but not yet utterly consistent. The 10th-place finish in that sequence is a reminder that even promising young horses have off days.

What makes today interesting is the gap. She has not raced in roughly five months — since that Newbury win in September — so she is coming back fresh, possibly for the first time since that career-best performance. Tom Dascombe's yard at Upper Lambourn has sent out 22 winners this season, which is a team in form and confident enough to be running horses. Whether Senorita Vega returns to the track looking like the horse who won at Newbury, or needs a race to find her rhythm again, is the question worth watching.