Take The Boat

The real story with Take The Boat is that it thrives in specific circumstances. It loves slow, wet or muddy ground, winning three of its nine races on that terrain—a 33% win rate—which is the sort of specialisation that clever trainers and jockeys exploit. Georgina Nicholls, who trains the horse at Kingston Lisle in Oxfordshire, clearly understands this. Take The Boat also performs best over distances between seven furlongs and a mile, winning two of six races at those trips, and it has emerged as something of a course specialist at Kempton Park, where it has won three of nine races. That is the kind of track record—literally—that makes a horse valuable to follow. It just won this week at Worcester on 19 August, and in its last six races has delivered a win, three third-place finishes, and two second-place efforts, suggesting it is in active form right now.

The partnership between Take The Boat and jockey Rob Hornby stands out. Hornby has ridden the horse seven times and won three of those races—a 43% win rate together—which is substantially better than the horse's overall record. That kind of combination matters. Nicholls' yard has already sent out 11 winners this season, and Take The Boat looks like one of its more consistent contributors. For anyone watching mid-tier racing, this is exactly the sort of horse to back when conditions turn wet and the distance lands right.