:

James Best

Four years into a professional riding career and James Best has already done something most jockeys never manage — winning at the very top level. His two Class 1 victories, at Warwick and Sandown Park, are the kind of results that define careers, and landing them before the age of most people's first promotion says a great deal about his ability to deliver when the spotlight is brightest.Based on TrackLab's AI analysis
Quick Facts
Role
Jockey
Record
26 wins from 354 races
Win rate
7.3%
Top trainer
Best course
Fontwell Park (26.7% from 15 races)
Best going
Heavy (very wet)

📊 Key Numbers

A snapshot of this jockey's performance over the last 12 months
354
Races
26
Wins
7.3%
Win rate
avg ~10%
22.9%
Place rate (top 3)
avg ~30%

🐎 Today's & Upcoming Rides

Rides James Best has entered for upcoming races

🔍 Full Analysis

TrackLab's AI-generated assessment based on career data and recent form
TrackLab's Jockey Breakdown
Auto-Generated

On the numbers, his current season reads as 26 winners from 354 races — roughly 1 in every 14 rides converted into a win — and that 7% win rate represents a modest but meaningful improvement on the 6% he posted last year. In a sport where margins are everything, a jockey trending in the right direction is worth watching. Across his four-year career he has now ridden 110 winners in total, a solid foundation for someone still firmly in the building phase.

Where Best genuinely stands out is on wet and muddy ground. In those conditions he has won 4 of 29 races — around 1 in every 7 — more than double his overall win rate. That is not luck; that is a rider who stays patient, keeps horses balanced when the footing gets treacherous, and finds a way to the line when others are slipping and struggling. Trainers notice that kind of thing.

He has also quietly made Fontwell Park something of a home circuit, winning on 4 of his 15 rides there. That is a 27% win rate at a tight, turning track that rewards jockeys who know its rhythms — and it suggests Best has put in the work to understand the place rather than just turning up and hoping for the best.

The one number that raises an eyebrow is his record alongside trainer Harriet Dickin: just 1 win from 59 rides together, a win rate of barely 2%, or roughly 1 in every 59 races. That is an unusually lean return from what is clearly a regular and trusted partnership, and it is the kind of statistic that will itch at both of them until they put it right. But with 110 career winners on the board, two top-level wins already banked, and a clear edge in the conditions British racing produces most often, Best looks like a jockey with more big days still ahead of him.

📈 Form Trend

How this jockey's win rate has changed month by month
Monthly win rate
2025–2026
3.6%
Jun
0%
Aug
16.7%
Sep
10.3%
Oct
5.7%
Nov
8.3%
Dec
5.6%
Jan
11.8%
Feb
7.4%
Mar
5.4%
Apr
6.1%
May
0%
Jun

🎯 Where This Jockey Thrives

Performance broken down by ground, class, and track type
🌧 Ground Conditions
Heavy (very wet)
Loves
Good to firm (drying out)
Loves
Good to soft (some give)
Good (firm-ish)
Ok
Soft (muddy)
Ok
Good to yielding (mild give)
Unknown
🏅 Competition Level
Class 1 (elite)
Unknown
Class 2 (high-level)
Avoids
Class 3 (mid-level)
Ok
Class 4 (standard)
Class 5 (entry-level)
🏟 Track Shape
Left-handed, tight
Loves
Left-handed, long straights
Right-handed, hilly
Left-handed, tight turns
Ok
Right-handed, long straights
Ok
Right-handed, tight turns
Avoids
Long straights
Avoids
Left-handed, hilly
Avoids

🏇 Trainer Partnerships

The trainers they work with most, sorted by rides together
Harriet Dickin First Choice
1.7%
Win rate
1/59
Won / Rode
6%
Win rate
3/50
Won / Rode
6.4%
Win rate
3/47
Won / Rode
13.6%
Win rate
3/22
Won / Rode
9.1%
Win rate
1/11
Won / Rode
30%
Win rate
3/10
Won / Rode
22.2%
Win rate
2/9
Won / Rode
11.1%
Win rate
1/9
Won / Rode
11.1%
Win rate
1/9
Won / Rode
12.5%
Win rate
1/8
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/7
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/7
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/7
Won / Rode
33.3%
Win rate
2/6
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/6
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/6
Won / Rode
20%
Win rate
1/5
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/5
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/4
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/4
Won / Rode

Top Horses

The strongest horses currently associated with this jockey
Form: 1-5571
Form: 07642
Form: 6-4144
Form: F5P1-F
Form: 5724F3
Form: 7P/5P-
Form: 4-5215
Form: 1151
Form: P-1353
Form: P011-2

🏟 Course Record

Win rate at each course, sorted by number of races
CourseRacesWinsWin rate
Taunton 36 2 5.6%
Chepstow 28 3 10.7%
Ffos Las 28 3 10.7%
Worcester 27 0 0%
Exeter 24 4 16.7%
Ludlow 20 0 0%
Wincanton 19 1 5.3%
Fontwell Park 15 4 26.7%
Bangor-on-Dee 15 3 20%
Huntingdon 15 2 13.3%
Uttoxeter 15 1 6.7%
hereford 15 0 0%
Stratford-on-Avon 12 0 0%
Newton Abbot 10 1 10%
Plumpton 9 0 0%
Leicester 9 0 0%
Warwick 7 0 0%
Lingfield Park 6 0 0%
Southwell 6 0 0%
Windsor 4 0 0%
Market Rasen 4 0 0%
Cheltenham 4 0 0%
Doncaster 3 1 33.3%
Kempton Park 3 0 0%
Hexham 3 0 0%
Haydock Park 3 0 0%
Sedgefield 3 0 0%
Ascot 3 0 0%
Fakenham 2 0 0%
Sandown Park 2 0 0%
Wetherby 1 1 100%
Punchestown 1 0 0%
Aintree 1 0 0%
Newcastle 1 0 0%

📅 Recent Results

The last 20 results, most recent first
3 Jun
Warwick · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
5th
3 Jun
Warwick · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
3rd
27 May
Newton Abbot · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
6th
27 May
Newton Abbot · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
27 May
Newton Abbot · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
3rd
27 May
Newton Abbot · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
24 May
Uttoxeter · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
6th
23 May
Bangor-on-Dee · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
9th
23 May
Bangor-on-Dee · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
7th
23 May
Bangor-on-Dee · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
3rd
23 May
Bangor-on-Dee · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
22 May
Worcester · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
9th
22 May
Worcester · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
9th
22 May
Worcester · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
10th
20 May
Ffos Las · Long Distance (2m+) · Good_To_Soft
Won
20 May
Ffos Las · Long Distance (2m+) · Good_To_Soft
2nd
17 May
Stratford-on-Avon · Long Distance (2m+) · Good_To_Firm
3rd
16 May
Uttoxeter · 1m6f – 2m · Good
2nd
16 May
Uttoxeter · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
14 May
Fontwell Park · Long Distance (2m+) · Good
7th