Harriet Tucker(7)

The numbers right now are tough reading. Two winners from 60 rides this season is a win rate of around 1 in every 30 — well below where she would want to be. That is a dip from last year, when she was winning roughly 1 in every 12 or 13, so the form has cooled noticeably. Whether that reflects a change in the quality of horses she has been given, a run of bad luck, or something she is working through technically, it is the kind of lean spell most young riders go through at some point.

Her most regular working relationship is with trainer Neil Mulholland, who has put her up 42 times — more than two thirds of her total rides in the past year. One winner from those 42 rides is slim return, but the sheer volume of opportunities suggests Mulholland sees something worth persisting with. Trainers do not keep booking a jockey out of charity; 42 rides is a real vote of confidence, even if the winners have not flowed.

One small but genuine bright spot: on wet or softened ground she has won 1 from 15 races, a win rate of around 1 in every 15, which is more than double her overall average. It is a narrow sample, but it hints that she may suit a particular style of race that comes up more often in those conditions — patient, measured, letting the horse travel through the mud rather than forcing things on top of the ground.

At 3% overall this season, Tucker is in a difficult patch. But four years is still a short career, the Mulholland yard clearly believes in her, and there are small signs that the right conditions bring out something better. Plenty of now-established jockeys have had seasons that looked a lot like this one.