Nathan Crosse

This season, though, has been a grind. Seven winners from 263 rides works out at around 1 in every 38 races — a 3% win rate that has actually slipped back slightly from the 4% he managed last year. To put that in perspective, a jockey riding at his absolute peak might win 1 in every 5 or 6 races. Crosse is winning far less often than that, which means he's spending a lot of afternoons doing the hard, unglamorous work of riding horses that aren't expected to win. That's a normal part of building a career, but it does mean results are thin on the ground right now.

His most regular partnership is with trainer W McCreery's yard, where he's taken 1 win from 72 rides together — roughly 1 in every 72, which is a very low conversion rate even by supporting-jockey standards. The sheer volume of rides from that stable suggests he's a trusted, reliable professional, but the numbers also indicate he's often sent out on horses with little realistic chance of winning.

The most encouraging detail in his figures is how he performs on normal ground conditions. In those circumstances, he's won 3 races from 66 — around 1 in every 22, which is closer to what you'd hope to see and suggests he's at his sharpest when the track is riding well. It's a small but meaningful sign that when conditions suit, Crosse can make things happen.

At 4 years in and 80 career winners, he's not a newcomer anymore, but he's also not yet the jockey whose name makes trainers reach for the phone. The next year or two will be telling. Can he push that win rate back up and find a high-profile partnership to build around? The raw material is there — the question is whether the opportunities follow.