Billy No Mates

The two victories on record tell a neat story. The first came at Thirsk in July 2022, a track in North Yorkshire that suits a certain kind of straightforward, honest competitor. The second and most recent came at Haydock Park in September 2023 — and at 33 months ago now, that win feels a long way in the rear-view mirror. Since then, 6 races without a win, with recent finishes of 7th, 4th, 3rd, 9th, 4th, and 6th. There are places in there, moments of promise, but the winner's enclosure has stayed firmly out of reach.

The most telling detail in the whole profile might be the partnership with jockey Connor Beasley: 13 races together, zero wins. That is a long working relationship to maintain without a single victory between them, and yet here they are, still turning up. It says something about the horse — that it keeps competing, keeps placing, keeps giving the yard a reason to run it again. Whether that is endearing or frustrating probably depends on your perspective.

Billy No Mates is trained by Michael Dods at Piercebridge in County Durham, and the yard is clearly in strong form — 43 winners sent out already this season, which is the kind of output that marks Dods out as one of the sharper operators in the north of England. The horse tends to run at Class 5 level, the bread-and-butter end of the sport where most horses spend most of their careers, and has won 2 of its 14 races at that level — roughly 1 in every 7, which is actually a respectable return given the overall record. It raced just yesterday, so whatever comes next is not far away.