Sleeping Late

Trained by Pam Sly out of Thorney in Cambridgeshire, Sleeping Late is part of a yard that has quietly been getting results — seven winners already this season, which tells you this is a trainer who knows how to prepare a horse to win. Sly is a respected name in British racing, and the fact that she's kept faith with an eight-year-old that hasn't won yet suggests she believes there's a race to be found for this horse somewhere down the line.

At this stage, the profile is short on fireworks — no big wins, no memorable days at the track. But racing has a way of surprising people, and a horse with a placed effort to its name isn't without hope. The question is whether Sleeping Late can turn that second place into a first.