White Sand Beach

What makes the situation particularly intriguing is who is doing the training. Aidan Patrick O'Brien's yard at Cashel in County Tipperary is one of the most powerful operations in racing anywhere in the world, and this season alone they have sent out 145 winners — a number that would be a career highlight for most trainers, let alone a single campaign. When a yard is operating at that level, they tend to know exactly what a horse is capable of, and the fact that White Sand Beach keeps being entered and keeps running suggests there is belief behind the scenes that a breakthrough is close.

With four races run and the horse still active — it last raced just seven days ago — there is plenty of time for the story to change. Zero wins from four races sounds underwhelming until you notice the horse has never finished lower than third. That is not a horse that is struggling; that is a horse that is competitive every single time it turns up. Whether it can finally get its head in front is the question worth watching.