Shes Perfect

The honest answer is that she has not quite managed it. Her record reads one win and three places from five races, which is a win rate of 20% — roughly one in every five — and her recent form line of 14-6-3-3-1 tells a story of a horse going the wrong way. She has finished outside the places in her last two runs, including a tough afternoon at Chantilly where jockey Kieran Shoemark reported that she never really settled, burned through her energy too early, and simply ran out of petrol in the final furlong and a half. Fellowes drew a clear conclusion from that: she has plenty of speed but does not get home over further than a mile, and a mile may even be stretching it.

Then came Longchamp, and a finish that left everyone frustrated. Fellowes was called to the stewards' room to learn that his horse had been placed behind another following a interference ruling — the kind of decision, he noted pointedly, that would not have gone the same way on a British racecourse. Whether that result will be challenged remains unclear from her cautious post-race comments.

She is trained at Newmarket by Fellowes, whose yard has sent out 21 winners this season — a healthy output that suggests she is in capable hands. At seven furlongs to a mile she has won one from three races, a ratio of 33%, and that Haydock victory remains the high-water mark of her career so far. She raced just yesterday, so whatever comes next is still being decided. At four years old and with genuine speed in her locker, the picture is not closed — but she needs a straightforward race over the right trip to remind everyone, including herself, what she looked like that afternoon at Haydock.