Dance Time

Start with the ground. On normal conditions, Dance Time has won 6 of 18 races, which works out at 33% — wins 1 in 3. That is a genuinely impressive ratio, and it tells you this horse has a clear preference. When the conditions suit, it delivers. When they don't, the results drop off sharply. Trainers and jockeys pay close attention to that kind of pattern, and it goes a long way to explaining why Dance Time keeps getting entered when the ground is right.

Then there is Southwell. Of Dance Time's 8 races at the track, 3 have resulted in wins — that's winning more than 1 in 3 visits to the same course. Southwell has its own distinctive all-weather surface, and some horses simply click with it in a way others never do. Dance Time is one of them, and that makes every Southwell entry worth circling in the diary. The very first career win came there in September 2023, and the track has remained a happy hunting ground ever since.

The trainer is David Loughnane, based at Stoke Heath in Shropshire. His yard has sent out 37 winners already this season, which suggests an operation in good form and capable of placing horses where they can win. Dance Time typically races at Class 5 level — the bread-and-butter tier of racing, where consistent performers like this one earn their keep — and has won 6 of 19 races at that level, a win rate of 32%, or roughly 1 in 3. Regular partner Laura Pearson has ridden in 8 of these races together and taken 1 win from that partnership.

Recent form shows two wins in the last six races, with the latest coming at Wolverhampton just four months ago. Before that, the form dipped a little — a run of placed and mid-pack finishes — but Dance Time came good when it mattered. Still active and racing just yesterday, this is a horse right in the middle of its story, comfortable at its level and at its best when the conditions fall in its favour.