Knicks

The headline numbers are modest: 2 wins and 14 places from 33 races, a win rate of around 1 in every 16 outings. But strip those numbers apart and the story gets stranger. Both wins came at different stages — that Class 2 breakthrough at Nottingham in late 2023, then a follow-up victory at Chester in May 2024 — suggesting a horse that can raise its game when conditions click, rather than one grinding out results week after week. The problem is that since Chester, now 26 months ago, Knicks has not won a single race.

The recent form does little to inspire confidence. In the last six outings, the best finish has been a second place, with a sixth and a seventh thrown in to keep things interesting in the wrong way. Jockey Joanna Mason, who knows this horse as well as anyone after 11 races together, has managed just that one win from their partnership — winning roughly 1 in every 11 rides. That is not a criticism of Mason; it reflects where Knicks is right now, a horse that places often enough to suggest it belongs on a racecourse, but rarely finds that extra gear to win.

Michael and David Easterby's yard at Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire is clearly firing on all cylinders this season — 55 winners sent out is a serious number, the kind of output that speaks to a well-run operation. Knicks, who raced just yesterday and remains in active training, is in capable hands. The question is whether there is another Chester or Nottingham moment hiding somewhere in the near future, or whether those two wins will remain the high-water mark of a career built mostly on near misses.