Connor Planas

His most regular partnership is with trainer David Loughnane's yard, where he has ridden 33 times for 2 wins. That works out to roughly 1 in every 16 races, which on the surface looks modest — but regular bookings from an established trainer tell their own story. Yards like Loughnane's do not keep putting a jockey up without believing in what they are getting. The rides themselves are valuable experience, and the wins, when they come, tend to matter.

One area where Planas stands out is on wet or muddy ground. From just 4 races in those conditions, he has won 1 — a 25% win rate, or 1 in 4. That is a small sample, so it would be wrong to overstate it, but there is clearly no loss of confidence when the ground gets testing. Some jockeys visibly struggle in the mud; Planas, at least so far, does not appear to be one of them.

At 91 career winners and still only three years in, the trajectory here is the interesting thing. The numbers from this season — 20 winners, a win rate that has more than doubled — point to a jockey who is improving at pace. In a sport where it can take years just to establish yourself, Planas is already past that stage and moving into the next one.