Treasure Time

What makes Treasure Time worth watching is the pattern buried in these numbers. Put it on fast, dry ground and the horse comes alive: two wins from six races on such surfaces works out to a 33 per cent win rate — genuinely strong form. Stretch the trip to between 7 furlongs and a mile, and the same story repeats: two wins from seven races at that distance. The horse clearly has preferences, and when both those boxes are ticked — dry ground, middle distance — it performs like a genuine competitor. The problem is consistency. In Class 2 company, where it belongs, it has won just once from six attempts. Tom Marquand, its regular jockey, has ridden it seven times and won once. The trainer, John & Sean Quinn's Norton yard in North Yorkshire, has been prolific this season with 44 winners, so there is competence there, but Treasure Time itself remains frustratingly inconsistent at five years old.