The Lost King

What makes that even more impressive is the company he keeps. Two of his three career wins have come in Class 2 races — among the better races you'll find outside of the elite top tier — and he's won half of all his Class 2 starts (2 from 4). That's not a horse scraping wins in easy company. That's a horse who turns up for the big days and delivers.

His recent run of form tells a clear story. Starting from his most recent race and working back: third, first, second, first, a poor twelfth, then third. The twelfth-place finish stands out as a clear blip, sandwiched between two wins, and it's the kind of result that often reflects the wrong conditions or trip rather than anything fundamentally wrong with the horse. Either side of it, he's been excellent. His two most recent wins came at Wolverhampton in March and Kempton in January — both all-weather tracks, both Class 2, and both convincing enough to suggest he's settled into his best form of his career.

He races out of Andrew Balding's yard at Kingsclere in Hampshire, one of the most productive operations in British racing this season. Balding's team has sent out 199 winners already this campaign — a number that speaks to an outfit that knows how to place horses in races they can win. The Lost King fits that picture neatly: a horse whose strengths are well understood and who keeps being pointed at the right opportunities.

He raced just yesterday, so there's no question of him going stale. Whatever comes next, this is a horse in the form of his life, operating at a high level, and winning roughly one in every three races overall — with that rate climbing sharply when conditions suit.