The Ballydoyle slow-burner who has rocketed to the top

Success does not always come quickly. Not one of Gareth Bale's first 24 games for Spurs ended in victory. Ed Sheeran used to be one of Nizlopi's guitar technicians. Conor McGregor was in a dole queue in Dublin five years ago. And it took Brendan O'Carroll almost 20 years to convince RTE and the BBC that Mrs Brown's Boys would be a treat on television.

Winter made an icy introduction too. The Classic clues were well hidden for a while. The daughter of Galileo and Wokingham winner Laddies Poker Two was only third on her debut at Naas, albeit showing signs of promise, and she was subsequently stuffed at even-money at Gowran Park. Butterflies flew past her and the 82-rated Decisive Intent, who finished 11th of 13 and ninth of 11 on her next two starts, was almost four lengths ahead of her too.

Wayne Lordan, on board both times, was disappointed but not deflated. "We knew even before she went to Naas that she would have enough pace to win over six furlongs. It's not too often that you have a Galileo that can win over six but we thought she would. We thought she was very smart. She travelled well the first day at Naas but, just when I asked her to go forward, she rolled around a bit and was green," he explains.