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Nicola Burns

Nicola Burns has been riding for just over a year — she took out her licence in October 2024 — and has already racked up 32 career winners, with 21 of those coming in the last 12 months alone. For context, most jockeys spend years grinding through the early stages of their career without that kind of return, so hitting 32 winners this quickly marks her out as someone worth paying attention to.Based on TrackLab's AI analysis
Quick Facts
Role
Jockey
Record
21 wins from 311 races
Win rate
6.8%
Top trainer
Best course
Bellewstown (17.6% from 17 races)
Best going
Yielding

📊 Key Numbers

A snapshot of this jockey's performance over the last 12 months
311
Races
21
Wins
6.8%
Win rate
avg ~10%
22.5%
Place rate (top 3)
avg ~30%

🔍 Full Analysis

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

Her current season tells a slightly mixed story. She's winning roughly 1 in every 15 races this year — 21 winners from 311 rides — which is down from 1 in every 9 she managed last year. That dip is worth watching, but 311 rides in a season means trainers are still putting her up regularly, and volume like that is its own kind of vote of confidence. Plenty of jockeys would take 311 opportunities without a second thought.

The most productive relationship in her career so far is with trainer R P Burns, where she has won 5 races from 36 rides together — roughly 1 in every 7. That's a notably better return than her overall average, which suggests the partnership works well and that the yard knows how to use her. Whether that connection deepens as her career develops is one of the more interesting threads to follow.

There are also some useful patterns emerging in where and when she performs best. On wet or muddy ground, she's won 4 times from 38 races — around 1 in every 9.5 — which is a meaningfully better return than her season average and suggests she handles those conditions with some confidence. And at Ballinrobe specifically, she has won 3 races from just 7 rides. That's a remarkable conversion rate for any jockey at any track — nearly 1 in every 2 — and hints at a course that genuinely suits her style.

The one partnership that hasn't clicked yet is with Apiary, where three races together have produced no wins. That happens, and three runs is too small a sample to read much into — but it does stand out against her otherwise solid record with specific horses.

At just over a year into her career, Burns is still very much a work in progress. But the foundations are there: a productive stable partnership, a track she seems to love, and a confidence on testing ground that not every young jockey develops quickly.

📈 Form Trend

How this jockey's win rate has changed month by month
Monthly win rate
2025–2026
8.3%
Mar
5%
Apr
0%
May
16.7%
Jun
10.8%
Jul
11.1%
Aug
4.1%
Sep
3.8%
Oct
10%
Nov
0%
Dec
0%
Jan
0%
Feb

🎯 Where This Jockey Thrives

Performance broken down by ground, class, and track type
🌧 Ground Conditions
Yielding
Loves
Good (firm-ish)
Soft (muddy)
Good to yielding
Standard (all-weather)
Ok
Heavy (very wet)
Ok
Good to firm
Yielding to soft
Avoids
Soft to heavy
Avoids
🏅 Competition Level
Class 2
🏟 Track Shape
Right-handed, tight turning
Loves
Left-handed, tight turning
Loves
Right-handed, tight
Loves
Right-handed, undulating
Left-handed, wide and galloping
Ok
Right-handed, wide and galloping
Ok

🏇 Trainer Partnerships

The trainers they work with most, sorted by rides together
R P Burns First Choice
13.9%
Win rate
5/36
Won / Rode
12.1%
Win rate
4/33
Won / Rode
10%
Win rate
2/20
Won / Rode
6.2%
Win rate
1/16
Won / Rode
7.1%
Win rate
1/14
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/11
Won / Rode
20%
Win rate
2/10
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/9
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/8
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/7
Won / Rode
16.7%
Win rate
1/6
Won / Rode
16.7%
Win rate
1/6
Won / Rode
16.7%
Win rate
1/6
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/6
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/6
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/6
Won / Rode
0%
Win rate
0/6
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: 762-33
Form: 233111
Form: 8422-5
Form: 1-4323
Form: 0/0-02
Form: 450-41
Form: 5800-5
Form: 800-41
Form: 60-241
Form: 5175-3

🏟 Course Record

Win rate at each course, sorted by number of races
CourseRacesWinsWin rate
Dundalk 82 3 3.7%
The Curragh 33 1 3.0%
Gowran Park 23 2 8.7%
Leopardstown 20 1 5%
Naas 19 1 5.3%
Galway 18 2 11.1%
Bellewstown 17 3 17.6%
Cork 12 1 8.3%
Fairyhouse 11 0 0%
Limerick 10 1 10%
Navan 10 0 0%
Roscommon 10 0 0%
Down Royal 10 0 0%
Tramore 8 1 12.5%
Ballinrobe 7 3 42.9%
Sligo 6 0 0%
Killarney 4 0 0%
Tipperary 3 1 33.3%
Clonmel 3 0 0%
Listowel 2 1 50%
Thurles 2 0 0%
Doncaster 1 0 0%

📅 Recent Results

The last 20 results, most recent first
20 Feb
Dundalk · 1m3f – 1m4f · Standard
10th
20 Feb
Dundalk · 5f – 6½f · Standard
7th
11 Feb
Dundalk · 7f – 1m · Standard
3rd
23 Jan
Dundalk · 7f – 1m · Standard
6th
23 Jan
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
12th
23 Jan
Phils Dream
Dundalk · 5f – 6½f · Standard
12th
16 Jan
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
4th
13 Jan
Dundalk · 1m3f – 1m4f · Standard
11th
13 Jan
Dundalk · 5f – 6½f · Standard
12th
13 Jan
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
3rd
13 Jan
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
7th
9 Jan
Dundalk · 1m3f – 1m4f · Standard
4th
9 Jan
Dundalk · 7f – 1m · Standard
2nd
9 Jan
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
13th
9 Jan
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
8th
9 Jan
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
5th
9 Jan
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
9th
9 Jan
Dundalk · 1m6f – 2m · Standard
7th
9 Jan
Dundalk · 5f – 6½f · Standard
7th
19 Dec
Dundalk · 1m1f – 1m2f · Standard
3rd