'He's as good as any juvenile colt I've seen this season' - Tom Segal on why first impressions aren't always right

If you watch a lot of racing then you'll realise that first impressions matter. Top-class horses do things differently from normal ones and good races usually stick out like a sore thumb. However, there are some occasions when first impressions are completely misleading and I have to hold my hands up because I was guilty of grossly underestimating the Coventry Stakes, and in particular the winner Rashabar.

It was probably because Rashabar started an 80-1 shot at the royal meeting, the horses were spread all over the track and it didn't look like a normal Ascot juvenile race, that made me think the Coventry was a substandard running. For many weeks I was of the opinion that any horse who ran in the race was worth taking on, but in recent weeks everything has changed.

Al Qudra, Mr Chaplin, Cowardofthecounty and Camille Pissarro have all franked the form, but it is Rashabar that I was mostly wrong about. Having watched the Coventry again lots in recent days, he did incredibly well to win and was by far the best horse on the day.