Stanage

The two wins tell an interesting story by themselves. The first came at Chelmsford in October 2024, and the second at Doncaster in March 2025 — meaning Stanage has managed to win at two different tracks, which at least suggests some versatility. The Doncaster win is the more recent of the two, though at this point it is over four months ago, and the last six races have produced nothing better than a fourth. The recent form figures of 7-12-7-5-4-6 show a horse that has gone quieter as the season has progressed, without disappearing entirely.

Joanna Mason has ridden Stanage in 10 of those 21 races — nearly half its career — and has partnered the horse to 1 of its 2 wins, a ratio of 1 win from 10 rides together. That is a meaningful partnership in terms of familiarity, even if the wins have been hard to come by. Stanage does most of its racing at Class 4 level, one step below the very top domestic races, and has won 1 from 7 at that grade — around 1 in every 7 — which is about on par with its overall record.

The yard behind Stanage is Michael and David Easterby, operating out of Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire. This is not a small operation — 55 winners sent out this season is a serious tally, and keeping a horse like Stanage in training says something about what the team sees in it. It raced just yesterday, which means it is as fit and active as it gets. The question is whether there is another win in it, or whether Stanage is settling into the role of a horse that fills out the field professionally and occasionally reminds everyone it can mix it at the business end.