MANUELA De Vega won the mile listed contest at Pontefract last Monday week and, while the raw timefigure awarded by Timeform (85) is nothing to write home about, there’s reasonable evidence to suggest she’s better than that.

An upgrade based purely on her sectionals saw me bring her to the low-90s but, viewing her closing sectional in light of the other two-year-old race on the card over the same distance, I concluded on a mark of 97.

That’s not the whole story either: still very green throughout the race, and likely to have been better suited by an end-to-end gallop, she was doing her best work at the finish and pulling further clear at the line. There’s good reason to think she could end up being at the top-end of pattern class.

Newcastle has gained something of a reputation for top-class, back-end two-year-olds itself: a reputation based largely on John Gosden having sent Enable and other graded horses there and there was horse called Turjomaan, a son of War Front, who could well fit the bill after winning last Tueday week.

A workmanlike winner at Ascot on his debut, which was perhaps no surprise given he looked physically quite large, the straight track at Newcastle with its stiff finish looked a smart decision pre-race by trainer Roger Varian.

The basic timefigure ordinary at only 74 but, given the steady pace (106.4% finish speed) and the closing sectional (24.1s for the final two furlongs), Timeform’s rating of 97p looks justly earned.

To put a bit more meat on the bones, I would have thought the horse likely to be unsuited by the steady gallop – something seemingly confirmed by the visuals of the race, the Gosden horse who came second (Wiretap) remained on the bridle for longer than Turjomaan – as well as having to make his own running. That comment may jar with those who, quite correctly, understand that the best place to be in a steadily-run race is the front-end.

The straight-track at Newcastle has a reputation as something of a graveyard for those attempting to make-all - based on the stats, one which isn’t completely deserved – but when there’s any sort of headwind, as there was that day, it’s not the ideal place to be.

Indeed, every other winner on the straight-course on the card utilised a hold-up racing style which bolsters my view of Turjomaan’s performance further. It’s a cliché, but he could be anything.