The big moments are there too. Bannister has won two of the sport's top races — Class 1 events, the kind that matter most — at Huntingdon and Haydock Park. Landing those races at two very different venues suggests he is not just a one-track specialist but someone who can adapt and perform when the occasion demands it.
His best work comes when the weather turns nasty. On wet or muddy ground, Bannister wins 6 races from every 31 he rides — roughly 1 in 5 — which is noticeably better than his overall average. That is a real skill. Plenty of jockeys struggle when conditions get testing; Bannister seems to thrive on it. Plumpton tells a similar story: 6 winners from just 15 rides there. That is an extraordinary hit rate at one track — essentially winning two in every five races at that course — suggesting he reads its unique layout particularly well.
The partnership with trainer Richard J Bandey has been the engine room of much of his success. Across 67 rides together they have produced 11 winners — winning roughly 1 in every 6 — a return that speaks to genuine trust and understanding between the two. When a trainer keeps putting a jockey up again and again, it usually means they like what they see. Then there is Rap Soul, a horse he has ridden to victory 3 times from just 6 races together — half of their outings ending in a win. That is the kind of partnership that fans start to notice.
Still only four years in, Bannister is a jockey on an upward curve — improving his numbers, thriving in testing conditions, dominating at Plumpton, and already knowing what it feels like to win at the top level.
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fontwell Park | 25 | 2 | 8% |
| Worcester | 19 | 1 | 5.3% |
| Plumpton | 15 | 6 | 40% |
| Southwell | 12 | 2 | 16.7% |
| Ffos Las | 12 | 1 | 8.3% |
| Market Rasen | 10 | 1 | 10% |
| Stratford-on-Avon | 9 | 2 | 22.2% |
| Huntingdon | 8 | 1 | 12.5% |
| Uttoxeter | 7 | 1 | 14.3% |
| Lingfield Park | 7 | 1 | 14.3% |
| Chepstow | 6 | 0 | 0% |
| Wetherby | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| Warwick | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Bangor-on-Dee | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Newton Abbot | 5 | 0 | 0% |
| Wincanton | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Newcastle | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Fakenham | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Leicester | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Cheltenham | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Newbury | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| hereford | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Hexham | 3 | 1 | 33.3% |
| Ludlow | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Catterick Bridge | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Cartmel | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Exeter | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Kempton Park | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Sedgefield | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Carlisle | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Punchestown | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Taunton | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Aintree | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Ascot | 1 | 0 | 0% |