The Bell Conductor

Ivan Furtado's yard in Wiseton, South Yorkshire, has been in excellent form this season with 34 winners already sent out, and The Bell Conductor has been part of that story. The horse's finest hour came on 2 April 2024 when he won a Class 2 race at Pontefract — one of the better prizes available to a horse at his level — and followed that with another win at Chester in August 2024. But it has been quiet since then. Nineteen months without a win and six consecutive races where the best he has managed is fifth place suggests The Bell Conductor is finding it harder to reproduce his peak performances.

What gives him a genuine chance on any given day are three very specific conditions that seem to unlock something in him. First, put him on wet or muddy ground and he transforms — two wins from just three races in those conditions is a remarkable 67%, and suggests most horses simply cannot handle the surface the way he can. Second, keep him to the very shortest distances, under five furlongs. Sprint races suit his style, and he has won 3 of his 8 races at that trip. Third, bring him back to Southwell, where he won on debut back in December 2021 and has returned to win twice more since. Three wins from nine races at one track is the kind of record that speaks to a genuine affinity — something about that track just suits him.

Add Paul Mulrennan into that picture and the numbers get even more interesting. The jockey has ridden him ten times and won on four of those occasions — 4 from 10 is a 40% win rate together, which is exceptional. When Mulrennan is booked and the ground comes up soft and the race is over a short distance at Southwell, The Bell Conductor becomes a very different proposition. He raced just ten days ago, so he is fit and active — the right conditions could bring that winning feeling back sooner than the recent form suggests.