Simon Pierre

His introduction to racing at Doncaster was far from smooth. He was too eager out of the stalls, jumped too sharply, and ran with more nervous energy than he could sustain. It told you something about him, but not necessarily the right things. The second start was the one that mattered. Back out at Thirsk in April, over a mile, he settled better and came home late to win — the kind of finish that suggests there is something genuine underneath. Trainer Gemma Tutty, whose yard at Osmotherley in North Yorkshire has sent out 20 winners already this season, clearly sees a horse who needed that first run to learn what racing was about.

What is interesting now is where he goes next. Tutty is pointing him toward Ascot for a race over a mile and two furlongs — two furlongs further than he has run before — and she sounds genuinely curious rather than cautious about it. A horse that finished his Thirsk mile the way he did, getting up late, often has more stamina in the tank than the bare form suggests. The step up in distance looks like a logical next move rather than a punt. He has been given a rating of 77 by the handicapper, which is a reasonable opening mark for a horse with only one win to his name, and will put him in against similar types at a famous venue. How he handles Ascot — a course with a stiff, uphill finish that rewards stamina — will tell the yard a great deal about what kind of horse they actually have.