The Best Way

Trained by Nicky Richards at his yard in Greystoke, Cumbria, The Best Way comes from a family with serious credentials. His half-brother Sir Valentino finished third in the Champion Chase in 2017, one of the biggest races in jump racing, which gives you a sense of the raw material Richards had to work with. Richards himself noted early on that when the horse first showed up on a racecourse he was green as grass — inexperienced, easily distracted, still figuring it all out. That kind of horse takes time, and Richards, whose yard has sent out 39 winners already this season, is clearly a trainer who knows how to play a long game.

The recent form makes for interesting reading: a seventh, two thirds, and that win, with a blank and an eighth in the mix. In other words, he is not a horse who dominates races, but he is one who shows up in the frame often enough to matter. At Class 5 level — the entry-level tier of British racing — he has won 1 from 3, a win rate of 33%, or roughly 1 in every 3 races at that grade. That is a solid record at that level and suggests he is competitive when the race is pitched right for him.

What makes The Best Way worth following is that combination of pedigree, a trainer in strong form, and a horse who, at eight, is still racing. He ran just one day ago, which means the team clearly believes there is more to come. Whether he can add to that single career win remains to be seen, but with Nicky Richards placing him carefully and a family tree that includes a Champion Chase placed horse, there is every reason to think that win at Newcastle was not the end of the story.