Reginald Charles

Start with Southwell. On that particular track in Nottinghamshire, Reginald Charles has won 2 races from just 5 visits, which works out to winning 2 in every 5 times he lines up there. That is a remarkable ratio for any horse, let alone one who otherwise takes a while to get to the winner's enclosure. Something about that track suits him — the tight turns, the synthetic surface, the way races tend to be run — and his team clearly know it. His first career win came at Southwell in January 2025, and his most recent win came there too, in December 2025. When Geoff Oldroyd's yard points him at Southwell, it is worth paying attention.

Oldroyd trains out of Pocklington in North Yorkshire and has sent out 13 winners this season, so this is a yard that knows how to get a horse ready to perform. Reginald Charles tends to run over seven furlongs to a mile — that middle-distance range where a horse needs stamina as much as speed — and has won 3 of his 19 races at those trips, or roughly 1 in 6. He also clearly prefers normal ground conditions, winning 2 of 9 races on a standard surface, compared to nothing to speak of on wet or muddy ground.

His regular partner in the saddle is P J McDonald, who has ridden him in 6 races and won once together — a 17% win rate, or just under 1 in every 6 rides. That is actually a decent return given the horse's overall record, and the partnership looks like a settled one.

His recent form reads 6-2-5-3-6-1, meaning he has been mixing moderate efforts with the occasional solid placing, and that solitary 1 at the end is his last win. He raced just yesterday, so he is very much an active horse right now. Reginald Charles will never be confused with a top-level performer — he competes at the grassroots end of the sport — but within that world, and especially at Southwell, he is a horse who consistently punches above his average.