Duran Fentiman

His numbers this season tell a straightforward story: 19 winners from 309 races, which works out at roughly 1 in every 16. That might not sound spectacular, but context matters here. Fentiman is riding at a level where opportunities are hard-won and the competition for decent horses is fierce. Every winner counts, and he keeps finding them.

The most important relationship in his career so far is with trainer Tim Easterby, one of the most prolific yards in the north of England. Fentiman has ridden 264 races for Easterby and produced 17 winners — again, around 1 in every 16. That kind of sustained partnership doesn't happen by accident. Trainers of Easterby's standing do not keep putting a jockey up unless they trust what they're getting back: honest feedback, good hands, and horses arriving at the line in decent shape.

What sharpens the picture is where and when Fentiman does his best work. On fast, dry ground he has won 7 from 66 races — roughly 1 in every 9, almost double his overall rate. At Beverley, the tight, undulating track on the Yorkshire coast, he has a record of 5 winners from 33 races, a course he clearly understands well. Tracks like Beverley reward jockeys who can read a race and place their horse correctly, rather than simply riding on talent alone. The fact that he performs above his average there suggests he has done his homework.

Most encouragingly, he is in the best form of his recent career right now. Over the last two weeks he has ridden 2 winners from just 19 races — an 11% win rate that is nearly double what he has managed across the whole season. Small samples can be misleading, but a jockey in form tends to ride with more confidence, and confidence is contagious. Fentiman is four years in, he is building something real, and the next step up feels closer than it did a year ago.