The broader numbers tell a story of honest, grinding effort. One win and seven places from 19 races is a win rate of just 5% — roughly 1 in every 19 outings — but the places show he is regularly competitive rather than simply making up the numbers. At the level he typically contests, the Class 5 tier, he has won 1 from 12 races at that grade, which works out at around 8%. That is not a flashy record, but it reflects a horse who turns up and tries. His career prize money will be modest at this level, and that is what Class 5 tells you — these are horses competing in the lower tiers of the sport, where the fields are deep and the margins are tight.
What makes Burgundy Man worth watching right now is his current form. Reading his last six runs from most recent back, the sequence of dashes, a ninth, more dashes, a sixth, a fifth, and then that win suggests a horse who has been in and out of the places without threatening — until suddenly he was. He raced just one day ago, so he is clearly in a busy spell, and the yard is in fine fettle with 25 winners on the board this season, which suggests R Mike Smith knows how to place his horses well.
Jockey Ben Smith has been the regular partner, riding him six times without a win together — though notably, he was not in the plate for that breakthrough at Perth. Whether the partnership clicks eventually remains to be seen, but Burgundy Man has shown that on the right day, at a track that suits him, he can get his head in front. For a horse who waited this long for his first win, that is no small thing.
| Course | Races | Results | Last visited | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Perth Galloping |
15 | 1 win, 2 seconds, 3 thirds, 9 other | 2 Jul | 6.7% |
| Cartmel Tight |
2 | 1 second, 1 other | 21 Jul | 0% |
| Ayr Galloping |
1 | 1 other | 28 Oct | 0% |
| Kelso Undulating |
1 | 1 other | 2 Apr | 0% |