Water To Wine

The first win came at Newbury in April, the second at Kempton Park in May. Two different tracks, two wins — that kind of consistency from such an early sample tells you this is not a horse that simply got lucky against weak opposition once. Winning on debut is one thing; backing it up at a different venue is another, and Water To Wine has done exactly that.

Behind the horse is one of the most formidable training operations in British racing. John and Thady Gosden, based at Newmarket in Suffolk, have sent out 140 winners already this season — that is a number that reflects a yard running at extraordinary efficiency. When a stable of that calibre picks up a young horse and sends it out twice in quick succession, both times coming home first, it tends to mean they like what they see at home on the gallops. Horses trained here do not stumble into results; they are placed carefully and expected to perform.

Two races is, of course, a very small window. Water To Wine has everything still to prove over a longer career and against tougher competition. But as opening statements go, a perfect record with a yard firing on all cylinders is about as promising a start as a three-year-old can make in the spring of their racing life.