Her overall numbers are modest on paper — 4 winners from 56 rides this season, roughly 1 in every 14 — but the direction of travel is what matters here. Twelve months ago, that win rate was zero. This season it sits at 7%, and that kind of improvement in a jockey's second year is exactly what trainers look for when deciding who gets the call.
Her most regular partnership is with trainer Gavin Cromwell's yard, where she has ridden 25 times for 1 winner. That's a quiet 4% win rate, but 25 rides with one trainer in two years of riding tells its own story — Cromwell clearly trusts her enough to keep putting her up, and that kind of loyalty is how young jockeys build a career.
Where Balfe genuinely stands out is on wet or muddy ground. In those conditions she has won 3 from 17 races — that's 18%, or roughly 1 in every 6, compared to 1 in every 14 overall. That is a striking gap, and it suggests she rides with real confidence and patience when the ground is testing and horses are harder to place and steer. Plenty of experienced jockeys never find a particular edge like that. She has one at two years old in the job.
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Down Royal | 7 | 0 | 0% |
| Fairyhouse | 6 | 0 | 0% |
| Downpatrick | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| Punchestown | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Cork | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Tramore | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Navan | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Wexford | 3 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Galway | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Clonmel | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Killarney | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Kilbeggan | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Bellewstown | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Leopardstown | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Listowel | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Sligo | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Thurles | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Ballinrobe | 1 | 0 | 0% |