Chifa

Across 48 races in total, Chifa has won 9 and placed in 20 others, which means it has paid its way in roughly six out of every ten outings — a genuinely useful horse to have in your yard. The overall win rate sits at around 1 in every 5 races (19%), which is solid rather than spectacular, but the Wolverhampton number tells you where the real story is. Most of Chifa's racing has come at Class 6 level, the entry level of British racing, where it has won 6 of 25 races. That is honest, unglamorous work, and Chifa has done it consistently.

Ed de Giles trains the horse from his yard in Ledbury, Herefordshire, and the stable has hit form this season with 8 winners already sent out. Trevor Whelan has been the regular partner in the saddle, riding 15 times together and winning 4 of them — a win rate of 27%, which is well above the horse's career average. That kind of chemistry between horse and jockey matters more than it might seem; a jockey who understands a horse's quirks can make the difference between a placed effort and a win. Chifa particularly enjoys normal ground conditions, winning 7 from 21 races on a standard surface — a record that accounts for most of its career wins and suggests it does not want things too wet or too dry.

At nine years old and raced just yesterday, Chifa is an active, durable competitor with no signs of slowing down. Most horses at this stage of a career are winding down, but the January win at Wolverhampton suggests there is at least one more chapter still to be written — almost certainly on that same familiar track.