Top Lad

What does offer some encouragement is the recent trajectory. After a couple of runs buried in the pack — finishing sixth and fourth — Top Lad has started finding his feet, posting back-to-back third-place finishes in his last two outings. That improvement is small but real, and it suggests a horse that may be learning what racing asks of him. He raced just yesterday, so he is bang in the thick of his season with presumably more opportunities to come.

The training operation behind him is a solid one. Michael and David Easterby run their yard out of Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire, and this season alone they have sent out 51 winners — a serious number that puts them firmly among the productive yards in the north. A team that busy knows how to place a horse, and the fact they keep running Top Lad suggests they see something worth persevering with. Whether he can finally reward their patience is the question his next few races will answer.