You Sexy Thing

What is striking is the form in Class 4 races, where You Sexy Thing has managed to win one of every four outings. That 25 per cent win rate in those moderate-standard contests suggests the horse is capable of beating its peers at that level, yet has only raced there a handful of times. Recent form has been largely anonymous. In the last six races, there have been two fourth-place finishes and a twenty-fifth — the kind of heavy defeat that raises questions — sandwiched around a third place and that lone victory at Sandown. Yesterday's run came just thirteen months after that August win, and though the horse returned to the track, the result was another middling fourth.

Richard Spencer's Newmarket yard has been prolific this season with thirty winners sent out, but You Sexy Thing does not appear to be among the yard's flagship performers. The puzzle is whether this is simply a horse of limited ability, or one that needs more time, a change of tactics, or a return to the sorts of races where it has shown it can win. At three years old there is time left, but the clock is ticking, and the gap between that solitary success and the next opportunity to win feels uncomfortably long.