STAMINA, appetite, value, sound technique and scope for improvement are all characteristics of considerable importance when making a judgement on whether a horse is worth backing.
For many, the search for Grade One performers boasting such attributes reaches its peak this week over the course of four days of breathtaking action in the surroundings of Prestbury Park in Gloucestershire.
Mark Warburton is a man for placing his bets much earlier in the season, though. Indeed, the research done on the most productive gamble of his short tenure as Rangers manager was conducted far from the madding crowd on a handful of pitches in Milngavie last summer, long before the starting tape on the race for the Ladbrokes Championship was lifted.
Back in July, Warburton agreed to take Jason Holt on trial. Within a day or two, he could sense that all said boxes were being ticked by the midfielder.
Holt had been informed by Hearts that was surplus to requirements with hopes of seeing a loan spell at Sheffield United in the second half of last term turn into something permanent destined to end in disappointment.
Although out of contract at Tynecastle, he carried a £65,000 development fee. Warburton needed time to weigh up the worth of committing the club to such, albeit modest, investment.
Holt had offers from elsewhere, too, but the lure of Ibrox was strong.
He scored a terrific goal in a bounce game against Ayr United and was, almost immediately, handed a three-year contract. The club’s decision to extend that to the summer of 2020 in January was mere proof that Warburton appears to know a sure thing when he sees one.
Holt has been something of a revelation for Rangers over the past eight months. Warburton spoke this week of the fact he has been covering more than 14 kilometres in games, up there with the kind of statistics recorded in the ultra-competitive Barclays Premier League.
It is no surprise. The 23-year-old’s energy and drive in an advanced role has been impossible to ignore with a return of 10 goals hugely encouraging for a player who, earlier in his career, had been urged to find a way to improve his scoring rate.
Perhaps sharpened by his rejection by Hearts, where he was once regarded as a shining light within the youth academy, his hunger is also all too evident.
Holt is a player going places. He believes he is part of a team on a very definite upward trajectory, too. His signing appears to be one wager from which everyone is turning out a winner.
“It was a gamble on both sides, for me and for the gaffer here, but it has worked out well for both parties,” he remarked ahead of tonight’s league visit to second-placed Falkirk.
“It’s an uncertain period, going on trial, but you just need to go and do what you do, prove to the club – the gaffer and Davie Weir, in this case – that you can do well for them.
“I had to show that I wanted to play for Rangers and that I was good enough to play for Rangers.
“I wasn’t desperate. There were other offers, but the chance to come to Rangers was a massive opportunity.
“The fact that we’ve done so well shows I’ve made the right decision, even though we’ve still got a way to go.
“Rangers are one of the biggest clubs in the world. That is very appealing to players out there.
“The gaffer and Davie had come in and I felt they were at the start of something exciting. Speak to all of the players who came in and they’ll tell you the same.
“They saw a really exciting team ahead. They all wanted to be a part of it and I was no different.”
It didn’t take long for Warburton to realise what he had on his hands after welcoming Holt through the gates of the Murray Park training complex.
“I was supposed to be in for the week and, if I remember right, he told me he was interested in it happening two or three days in,” recalled Holt.
“I was just so happy when we got that contract signed, knowing I was going to be part of this exciting project.”
Being jettisoned in such unceremonious fashion by Hearts, for whom he had signed as a teenager, must have hurt, though.
“Yeah, but these things happen in football,” he said. “People come and go all the time. There’s nothing unusual in that.”
The same could hardly be said of those impressive statistics trotted out by Warburton this week. Holt plays, though, with the verve and enthusiasm of a man who appears to have finally found his place in professional football and wants to mark this campaign of revival and rebirth with honours.
“This season probably sits at the top so far for me,” he said. “I got to one cup final with Hearts, but, here, we’re through to one final, we have a semi-final to look forward to and we’re fighting for the title.
“I feel really good, really fit, but I think you’ll see that throughout the squad, not just me. We’re all looking strong.
“This is probably as well as I’ve played. I’ve really enjoyed my football this season and that’s a big factor.”
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