Tea Boy

That sole placed finish from seven races tells the honest story: competitive enough to be in the mix, but not yet able to convert. His regular jockey Callum Bewley has been aboard for five of those attempts without a win between them, though the pair keep finding themselves in the conversation at the business end of races rather than trailing home at the back. There is something encouraging in that, even if the scoreboard remains blank.

Tea Boy typically lines up in Class 4 races — a solid mid-tier level where the competition is real but not elite — and has gone 0 from 4 at that grade. Trainer Peter Atkinson operates out of Yafforth in North Yorkshire and has sent out five winners already this season, so the yard clearly knows how to get horses to the line first. Tea Boy just hasn't been one of them yet. Whether that changes soon is the question worth watching.