Antony Brittain

Over the last 12 months, Brittain has sent out 22 winners from 249 runners — that's roughly 1 in every 11 races, a solid return in a profession where most yards are delighted to win 1 in every 8 or 9. Across his whole career, 97 winners in four years represents a genuinely impressive rate of accumulation for a trainer still finding his feet at the top level. Many yards take the better part of a decade to reach that kind of tally.

Newcastle has become something of a home patch. Brittain has sent out 15 winners from 114 runners there — roughly 1 in every 8 — which suggests he knows exactly how to place his horses to suit that track. When a trainer keeps returning to the same course and keeps winning, it usually means they understand its quirks: the draw, the distances, the way the ground rides. That knowledge is hard-won and genuinely valuable.

The most important relationship in the yard right now is with jockey Cam Hardie, who has ridden 18 winners from 181 outings for the stable — a win rate of 10%, or nearly 1 in every 10. That level of repetition between a trainer and jockey tends to produce results because the communication is tighter: Hardie knows what Brittain's horses need, and Brittain knows what Hardie can deliver. It is a partnership worth watching. The association with Sports Coach has produced just 1 win from 8 races together, which is a work in progress — though one win from eight isn't a disaster, it suggests there is more to come from that combination if the pieces fall right.

Still only four years in, Brittain is the kind of trainer whose best days almost certainly lie ahead. The foundation is there: a reliable jockey, a track he clearly knows how to exploit, and nearly 100 career winners already banked. The next step is turning consistent into exceptional.