David Allan

The summer of 2025 offered a snapshot of what he is capable of at the highest level. Within the space of three days in late August, he won a top-level race at York and then backed it up with another at Ripon. Add a win at Newmarket's July course in June, and you have a jockey who has claimed five Class 1 victories across his career — at venues including Ascot and Redcar — proving he can rise to big occasions rather than shrink from them. For context, a Class 1 race is the top tier of British racing, the kind of afternoon where reputations are made and prize money runs deep.

Much of Allan's success has been built in partnership with trainer Tim Easterby, a hugely prolific northern yard that turns out runners at volume. Their 52 wins from 509 rides together — roughly 1 in every 10 — is the bedrock of Allan's career. When a trainer keeps putting you back up on their horses after nearly 500 rides, it says everything about the level of trust involved. Easterby clearly rates him, and the results justify why.

There is also a personal stronghold worth noting: Hamilton Park in Scotland, where Allan has won 9 races from just 35 runners. That is a remarkable conversion rate — more than 1 in every 4 rides at that track ends in a winner. Some jockeys simply click with certain courses, finding lines through bends and reading the pace of races there better than elsewhere. Hamilton appears to be that place for Allan.

His partnership with Red Spells Danger — two wins from seven rides together — hints at another quality: the ability to build a relationship with a specific horse over time, learning its quirks and getting the best from it. At 68 winners and counting this season, David Allan looks like a jockey very much in his stride.