Clean Getaway

Kirby, whose yard at East Appleton in North Yorkshire has sent out 36 winners this season alone, has been candid about the horse taking time to find his feet. Early on, results did not come easily, and it was not until June 2024 — at Market Rasen — that Clean Getaway got his first career win on the board. Since then he has added six more, all but two of them at Sedgefield. His most recent came there in April this year, and the trainer was straightforward about the reasoning behind his schedule: the horse goes better on faster, drier ground, so the team manages him carefully, giving him breaks and targeting conditions that suit him.

Across 45 career races, he has won 7 and placed a further 16 times — a win rate of 16%, or roughly 1 in every 6 races. That puts him firmly in the honest and consistent bracket rather than the brilliant one. His regular partner in the saddle is Joe Williamson, who has ridden him in 38 of those 45 races and shares 7 of those wins — a win rate of 18%, or just under 1 in every 5 rides together. That level of continuity between horse and jockey matters more than it might sound. At Class 5, where margins are tight and races are won on small advantages, a jockey who knows his horse's quirks is worth a good deal.

His last six races read 5-3-4-1-5-5, which tells you he is not in the kind of form that makes headlines but he is still finding the winner's enclosure. He raced just yesterday, which means Clean Getaway remains active and in work. At nine, he may not have many chapters left, but for now he is still turning up, still finding ways to win at his favourite track, and still giving the yard good days out — exactly as the trainer put it.