Nico de Boinville

The partnership that defines his career, though, is the one with Constitution Hill. Ten wins from 13 races together is a staggering record — that's a horse and rider combination winning more than three in every four times they line up together. For context, even the very best jockey-horse partnerships rarely sustain that kind of hit rate. Constitution Hill is widely regarded as one of the most exciting horses in training, and de Boinville has been there for almost every chapter of that story.

His working relationship with trainer Nicky Henderson tells a similar tale. Thirty-six wins from 161 rides for Henderson's yard works out at 22%, or 1 in every 4.5 races — exactly in line with his overall numbers, which says something important: he performs at the same high level whether the occasion is big or small. Henderson's operation is one of the most powerful in jump racing, and the fact that de Boinville is its go-to rider speaks volumes.

There is also something quietly impressive about his record at Newbury — 4 winners from just 12 rides there. It might sound like a small sample, but 1 winner in every 3 races at a track is the kind of number that trainers notice when they are deciding who to put up on a good horse at that venue. De Boinville does not have a weakness at a particular track so much as a habit of finding a way to win at the ones that matter most.