Joey Haynes

That 6% win rate for the season is slightly down on the 8% he posted last year, and that dip is worth noting. It does not suggest a jockey in freefall — 246 rides means trainers still want him — but it does suggest a season where things have not quite clicked as cleanly as before. The last fortnight, though, tells a different story. One winner from five rides in the past two weeks works out at 20%, more than three times his seasonal average. Whether that is the start of a purple patch or just a good fortnight remains to be seen, but the timing is interesting.

His strongest alliance is with trainer Chelsea Banham, and the numbers there are worth a closer look. Eight wins from 95 rides together — roughly 1 in every 12 — gives Haynes a meaningfully better win rate in that yard than his overall seasonal figure. That kind of sustained relationship matters in racing. It means a trainer trusts a jockey enough to keep putting them up, and the jockey knows how the horses in that string are likely to run. Familiarity is underrated in this sport.

One other detail stands out. On fast, dry ground, Haynes wins 2 races from every 8 — a 25% hit rate that dwarfs his figures in any other conditions. That is not a coincidence. Some jockeys just find a rhythm on a quick surface, and when the ground firms up, Haynes appears to be one of them. It is the kind of edge that is useful to know.

His partnership with A Lott Of Kane — one win from seven races together — is his most notable individual horse relationship, though seven runs without more wins suggests that particular combination has more potential than it has yet delivered. At 95 career winners in four years, Haynes is a jockey building steadily rather than setting the world alight. But the recent form, the dry-ground numbers, and the Banham connection all suggest someone who is quietly putting the pieces in place.