G B Noonan

The most productive relationship in Noonan's career so far has been with trainer Eoin Christopher McCarthy. Nine wins from 89 rides together — around 1 in every 10 — suggests a genuine working understanding has developed between horse, trainer, and jockey. That 10% figure might sound modest, but in jump and flat racing at this level, a jockey who delivers consistently for one yard tends to get more opportunities, which tends to produce more winners. It is a virtuous cycle, and Noonan appears to be entering it.

There are two places where the numbers really sharpen up. On wet or slightly soft ground, Noonan has won 6 races from 35 — that is 17%, or closer to 1 in every 6. On a dry, fast track those numbers soften, which suggests an eye for pacing a horse through give in the ground, something that takes real feel to do well. And at Listowel, a track that rewards tactical riders who know its quirks, Noonan has turned up 4 winners from just 17 rides. That is nearly 1 in every 4 races at a single course — the kind of figure that marks out a jockey who does not just ride around the track but actually understands it.

Fifty-three winners in four years is a career that is still being written. Noonan is not yet a name that casual racing fans will recognise, but the trajectory is pointing in one direction. A doubled win rate, a strong stable partnership, and a handful of tracks and conditions where they genuinely excel — that is a foundation. The next question is whether this season's improvement holds, or turns out to be just the beginning.