Shane Fenelon(5)

This season the winners have been harder to come by. Eight wins from 154 rides works out at around 1 in every 19 — a 5% win rate that represents a noticeable step back from the 8% he posted last year. That kind of dip happens in racing, and it doesn't necessarily mean anything is going wrong — sometimes the horses just don't run your way — but it's the sort of number a jockey will want to turn around quickly.

The most interesting thread in Fenelon's career so far is his partnership with trainer Mickey Bowen. Of his 103 rides for Bowen, eight have ended in victory — a win rate of roughly 1 in every 13, which is meaningfully better than his overall record. That suggests a genuine working relationship built on trust and familiarity. When a trainer keeps putting a young jockey up race after race, it usually means they like what they see in the saddle, and that kind of loyalty is worth a lot early in a career. Eight of his 27 career wins — almost a third of his entire haul — have come through that single yard.

At 27 winners and four years in, Fenelon is still very much building. The claim he carries is both a reward for where he is now and a reminder that there is still plenty of ground to make up. Plenty of jockeys have come through a quieter season and emerged stronger for it. The Bowen connection gives him a reliable base, and the next step will be whether he can start converting at a higher rate beyond it.