Trojan Warrior

He's trained by Aidan P O'Brien at Cashel in County Tipperary, which is about as powerful a yard as exists in European racing right now. With 144 winners already sent out this season alone, this is a stable that doesn't waste its time on ordinary horses. When that team says a horse "could be a fair horse," they are being deliberately understated — O'Brien doesn't tend to oversell, which makes the words worth listening to carefully.

What those words actually suggest is significant. O'Brien has floated the idea of Trojan Warrior lining up for the Irish 2,000 Guineas, one of the most prestigious races for 3-year-olds in Ireland, with a possible stepping-stone run in the Tetrarch Stakes along the way. Both are top-level races. For a horse with just one win to his name to be discussed in that company tells you everything about how highly he is regarded at home. His most recent outings — finishing ninth and then sixth before that winning debut — look far less important once you understand how raw he was and what conditions he faced.

He last raced just yesterday, so he is very much in the thick of his season right now. The next few months will reveal whether the O'Brien yard's confidence in him is justified, but with a first win already banked on one of Ireland's most important tracks, in testing conditions, against decent competition, Trojan Warrior arrives at his 3-year-old campaign with a genuine case for being taken seriously.