Sonoran

What makes this week interesting is that Sonoran has just come back to form. He won at Navan on 2 September, only a day ago, and that victory breaks a long silence. His previous five races tell the story of a horse struggling to get into the money: a fifth at his last outing, a ninth before that, two more ninths, and a sixth. He hadn't seen a winner's enclosure since 27 May at Tipperary, more than three months earlier. That drought is now over, and he has done it in convincing fashion this week. For a horse at his level, finding his way back to the winner's circle is always encouraging—it suggests he still has something to offer and that his trainer hasn't given up on him.

G M Lyons sends out his runners from Dunsany in County Meath, and the yard has been in fine form this season with 43 winners already. Sonoran may not be among the stable's flagship horses, but the fact that Lyons has kept him in active work and brought him back to victory suggests there is still confidence in what he can do. At four years old and active on the track, Sonoran is right in the middle of his racing life, and that win this week proves he is not yet done.