Venetian Prince

The overall record reads one win and two places from four races, which works out at winning 1 in every 4 races it has entered. That is a solid return for a young horse still finding its feet, and the quality of that single victory carries more weight than the number alone suggests. The recent form line of a sixth, a first, and a second tells a familiar story for a three-year-old: inconsistency, but with a clear high point that justifies confidence.

What is slightly puzzling is that Venetian Prince has run in lower-grade races three times without winning any of them, yet went to Newbury at the higher level and took the prize. Sometimes a horse simply needs a better race to bring out the best in it — more pace to chase, stronger rivals to sharpen the mind. That seems to be the case here.

The yard behind Venetian Prince is Andrew Balding's operation at Kingsclere in Hampshire, one of the most productive training setups in Britain. With 204 winners already sent out this season, Balding's team know how to place a horse to win, and the decision to target a Class 2 at Newbury for this horse's breakthrough clearly paid off. After a short break of 32 days since its last race, Venetian Prince returns with that top-level win on its record and, at just three years old, plenty of racing still ahead of it.