Lewis Stones(3)

This season, though, has been a tougher one. Five winners from 86 rides — roughly 1 in every 17 — represents a win rate of 6%, down from 10% last year. That drop is worth paying attention to. It is not a crisis, but it does suggest a jockey who is riding more without converting as often, and that gap between opportunity and result is something he will be keen to close.

Where Stones does stand out is on wet or muddy ground. In those conditions he has won 3 races from 21 rides — 14%, or roughly 1 in every 7. That is more than double his overall rate, and it is the kind of edge that trainers notice. When the weather turns and the ground gets soft, he becomes a more interesting booking.

His most celebrated partnership is with Cloudy Wednesday, a horse he has ridden to 5 wins from 29 races together. That is a relationship built over time and repetition — knowing a horse's quirks, its preferred pace, when to ask and when to wait — and it is often what separates a good jockey from a useful one. Five wins from 29 is not a barnstorming number, but it speaks to consistency and trust.

His most regular trainer booking comes from Olly Murphy's yard, where he has had 31 rides for 2 winners — 6%, or roughly 1 in every 15. Murphy is one of the more prominent jumps trainers in Britain, so getting regular rides from a yard of that profile is meaningful even when the winners are not flowing freely. For Stones, the priority now is turning those opportunities into results and proving that last year's 10% was a sign of things to come, not a high watermark.