Penny Ghent

That career record, two wins and six places from 29 outings, works out at roughly one win in every fifteen races, which is modest by any measure. For a long time she was particularly stubborn at Class 6, the entry-level tier of British racing, where she went 16 races without a win. Sixteen. At that point you might reasonably wonder whether a win would ever come. Then, on 17 May 2026 at Ripon, it did — and suddenly everything changed. Less than two weeks later she backed it up with a second win at Beverley, just days ago. Two wins in her last six races after drawing a blank in the previous 23 is a remarkable turnaround, whatever the level.

Her sweet spot is a distance of around a mile to a mile and a quarter, where she has posted both of those wins from 15 races at that range — a win rate of 13%, or roughly one in every eight, which is a very different number to anything she has managed elsewhere. Distance matters enormously to horses, and Penny Ghent is a clear example of a horse who simply functions better when the trip suits her.

She is trained by Simon Whitaker at Scarcroft in West Yorkshire, a yard that has sent out three winners this season. The jockey most associated with her is Cam Hardie, who has ridden her five times without a win — interestingly, both of her victories have come with someone else in the saddle.

Whether this is a genuine purple patch or a brief flicker is the obvious question. But right now, on the back of two wins in ten days, Penny Ghent is the most in-form horse in a small but lively yard, and she is racing actively. For a horse who spent years suggesting more than she delivered, that is worth paying attention to.