Vicki Vale

When she has been at her best, there has been a clear pattern worth knowing. Both of her career wins have come on slightly soft ground — wet enough to take the sting out of the track, but not fully waterlogged — and she has won 2 of just 5 races in those conditions, a 40% win rate that stands well above anything she has managed on other surfaces. That is a meaningful number. It says that when the ground suits her, she becomes a genuinely different proposition. Her wins came at Hereford in November 2022 and Taunton in April 2023, both at Class 4 level, which is a solid middle tier of racing — competitive, but not elite. At that level she has won 2 from 8, a 25% win rate, which is actually a decent return.

Her most regular partner in the saddle has been Harry Skelton, one of the better jockeys in the sport, and together they have won 1 from 7 races — roughly 1 in 7, which is modest. That said, statistics between horse and jockey at this level can be misleading; what matters more is whether Skelton is aboard when the conditions finally align. Vicki Vale is trained by Deborah Cole, whose yard has sent out 4 winners already this season — a small but active operation with horses winning races right now.

The recent form figures — finishes of fourth, fifth, sixth, and fourth in her last meaningful runs — show a horse that has been competitive without threatening to win. She has not been disgraced. But after seventeen months away, everything resets. If she comes back to soft ground and Class 4 company, the form book gives genuine reason to take notice.