Laurens: a rare beauty with a sense of the dramatic who never knows when to quit

Perhaps the most surprising statistic surrounding the stellar campaign put together by Laurens in 2018 is that she has run 'only' six times.

How can that be true of a filly whose season has been marked by her ubiquity, inserting herself into nearly every argument that has defined the year: Guineas near-miss; middle-distance Classic heroine; would-be Arc contender and, latterly, star miler?

It would be easy to attribute the illusion that Laurens has been ever-present to the infectious enthusiasm of owner John Dance and her coolly rational trainer Karl Burke, both of whom have done much to promote their wondrous charge in the eyes of the public.