Rasa Lila has been retired without a top-flight victory to her credit, but those closest to her have no doubt that only bad luck denied her the perfect breeding CV.
"She was such a good horse and it's a real shame she didn't win a group one - she was definitely good enough to," said Julia Ritchie, who trained the Darci Brahma mare with Steven Ramsay.
Last year's Captain Cook Stakes at Trentham had loomed as Rasa Lila's big opportunity to break through at the highest level, only to have it snatched away days before the event.
"I can honestly say I had never been so confident of winning a race and then she got colic on the Monday afternoon," Ritchie said.
"It was heart-breaking really. After that we were chasing our tail with her in those last two races." Rasa Lila resumed in the autumn with a respectable sixth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Thoroughbred Breeders' Stakes and she then finished a close seventh in the Gr.1 Travis Stakes.