Varshini

The numbers since that win, however, make for sobering reading. Varshini's last six results read 5-15-5-6-11-10 — a sequence that tells a story of a horse struggling to recapture its best, finishing mid-pack or worse in every outing. That said, Stack's yard has been in solid form this season, sending out 15 winners, so the infrastructure is there for a horse to turn things around if the right race comes along.

The most encouraging detail in Varshini's record is the distance picture. Over seven furlongs to a mile, the horse has won 1 from 4 races — that's a 25% win rate, or one in every four attempts, which is genuinely strong at this level. That suggests Varshini is a horse with a specific sweet spot, and placing it correctly over that trip could unlock a better version than the recent form suggests. Regular partner Seamie Heffernan, one of Ireland's most experienced jockeys, has been aboard for 6 of those 9 races and was in the saddle for the win at Gowran. The fact that Stack keeps going back to Heffernan suggests there's a belief within the team that the combination can strike again. Varshini raced just yesterday, so this is a horse very much in active training and in the conversation.