Stan Sheppard

This season, he has won 24 races from 234 rides — roughly 1 in every 10, or 10% — which is a slight dip from last year's 16%, around 1 in 6. That kind of drop is worth watching, though it may say more about the horses available to him than any change in his riding. What makes that context interesting is his partnership with trainer Tom Lacey, which remains one of the more productive in jump racing right now. From 135 rides together, Sheppard has won 22 times — a rate of 16%, or nearly 1 in every 6. That's the kind of number that tells you a trainer trusts a jockey with their best horses, and that the jockey keeps delivering.

The most eye-catching number right now is his recent form: 3 winners from 8 rides in the last two weeks. That's a 38% win rate in a fortnight, compared to 10% for the season as a whole. Whatever's clicking at the moment, it's clicking hard.

There are conditions that seem to bring out his best. On fast, dry ground he wins 2 from 7 races — 29%, nearly 1 in 3 — which suggests he times his finishes well when the pace is quick and every second counts. Newton Abbot also stands out: 3 winners from just 7 runners there, which is the kind of record at a specific course that jockeys quietly treasure. At nearly 1 in every 2, that's not a coincidence — it's a pattern worth noting for anyone paying attention.

At 24 years old or so, with nine top-level wins already on the board and a high-value partnership firmly established, Sheppard looks like a jockey still very much on the way up. The season's win rate may be down, but the big-race experience and the current purple patch both point in the same direction.