Cynthia Woods

The most notable partnership in her yard so far has been with Major Major, a horse she has run four times without a win. Four attempts together and nothing to show for it yet — though the fact that she keeps finding races for the same horse suggests she sees something worth persisting with.

Seventeen runners without a winner is a tough stretch by any measure, and there is no dressing it up. But training is a long game, and plenty of now-respected yards went through lean early spells. At four years in, Woods is still building, and the first winner — when it eventually comes — will be a long time in the making.