IT’S 7.45am on a Friday morning and two horses are walking down a track on the edge of Newmarket Heath with their trainer, George Boughey, driving alongside. Second lot on an ordinary morning, and this pair are heading out for routine exercise, nothing special.

But these are no ordinary three-year-olds. Both are unbeaten. On the near side is a Teme Valley Racing-owned son of Starspangledbanner called Protection Act, winner of a pair of low-key contests at Haydock and Goodwood and partnered today by amateur rider and budding point-to-point jockey, Cian Murphy.