Nicola Currie

This season, though, has been a tougher grind. Currie has ridden 244 times and won just 10, which works out at roughly 1 in every 24 races. That 4% win rate is a noticeable step back from last year's 8%, and over the course of a full season, that difference adds up. Where last year she was winning twice as often, this campaign has demanded patience and persistence in equal measure.

Her most consistent working relationship is with trainer Ollie Sangster, but even that partnership reflects the difficulty of the current season — just 1 win from 40 rides together, or roughly 1 in every 40. That is a low return for such a high volume of shared work, and it suggests the yard has been navigating a lean spell rather than anything specific to Currie's riding. When conditions suit her, the numbers improve meaningfully: on normal ground she has won 3 from 42 races this season, around 1 in every 14 — a win rate nearly double her overall average, which suggests she is at her best when the track is neither too wet nor too firm.

The partnership to watch is the one with Stateira, where Currie has won 1 from 3 races together. That is too small a sample to draw firm conclusions, but a one-in-three hit rate with a specific horse is the kind of combination that catches the eye, and it hints at a genuine understanding between rider and horse that could develop further.

The headline remains that Class 1 win at Pontefract — a reminder that Currie has already operated at the very top level of British racing and delivered. Quieter seasons happen to every jockey, and the measure of a career is not one difficult stretch but how a rider responds to it. With 52 winners already banked and a top-level result on the record, Currie has the foundation. The question this season is simply about finding that form again.