Woodlawn Lily

What does give reasons for patience is where she is trained. J P Murtagh's yard in Co Kildare has sent out 53 winners already this season, which marks it out as one of the more productive operations around. When a stable is firing at that volume, it tends to have a good read on which young horses need time and which are ready to be pushed. The fact that Woodlawn Lily raced just yesterday suggests she is being kept active and that the team clearly see something worth persisting with.

Three races at two is not a long enough record to draw firm conclusions — many horses of this age take half a season just to work out what racing is actually about. The placed finish at least shows she is competitive enough to be in the mix, even if the winner's enclosure remains elusive for now.