Tom Bellamy

What makes that figure more impressive is the direction of travel. Twelve months ago he was winning around 1 in every 8 races. Now he's at 1 in 6. That kind of improvement isn't noise — it's a jockey who is genuinely getting better, reading races more sharply and making fewer costly mistakes.

His most important professional relationship is with trainer Alan King, and the numbers bear out just how well they click. Bellamy has ridden 167 races for King's yard and won 28 of them — a win rate of 17%, or just better than 1 in 6. When a jockey and trainer find that kind of rhythm it usually means they communicate well, that the jockey understands how the horses are prepared and what's being asked of them on race day. Over 167 races together, that's not luck — that's a working partnership that suits both sides.

At the top level, Bellamy has won 6 Class 1 races, the highest-grade races in Britain, at tracks including Newbury, Wincanton and Warwick. For a jockey still in the early part of his career, six wins at that level is meaningful — these are the races where the very best horses turn up, where margins are small and mistakes are punished. The fact he has managed it across different venues suggests he can adapt rather than relying on one familiar circuit.

Ascot is worth a mention too. Three winners from just 9 races there gives him a win rate of 33% at one of the most prestigious tracks in the country — basically 1 in every 3. Small sample, but striking enough to notice. Ascot doesn't flatter the unprepared, and Bellamy seems to handle the occasion rather than wilt under it. With 240 career winners already banked and his form still climbing, the next few seasons will be telling.