Follow The Leader

The overall record reads one win and one place from five races, meaning Follow The Leader has won roughly 1 in every 5 outings — a respectable enough return, though most of that career was spent without a victory to show for it. The recent form figures of 1-6-9 tell an interesting story: a difficult patch through the winter and spring, then a sudden sharpening into something better. What changed is hard to say, but the result speaks for itself.

What makes the win particularly noteworthy is where it happened. Hexham is a tight, undulating track in Northumberland that rewards horses who genuinely want to battle — it is not a place where ordinary horses stumble into wins. Getting it right there, at a seventh year of age, suggests Follow The Leader found its moment rather than simply getting lucky.

John Wainwright's yard has been in form this season with four winners already on the board, and this result adds a layer of momentum. For a small operation based in North Yorkshire, sending a horse to Hexham and coming back with a winner is exactly the kind of afternoon that keeps a yard ticking over with confidence.