Starman Tom

Trained by Kieran P Cotter at a yard in Portarlington, Co Laois, Starman Tom is part of a team that has had a productive season — seven winners sent out already, which shows this is not a yard just making up the numbers. Cotter clearly knows how to get horses ready to perform, and the fact that Starman Tom keeps finding the frame suggests the horse is being placed sensibly and is fit and well when it turns up.

What makes the picture a little more intriguing is the recent sequence: third, then third again, then second last time out. That's a horse going in the right direction, gradually creeping closer to the front. Raced just one day ago, Starman Tom is clearly an active, busy campaign — and with that upward trend in the most recent form, the obvious question is whether a first win is just around the corner. Three places from three races is the record of a horse that competes honestly every time. Sooner or later, that tends to get rewarded.