Bernard Llewellyn

The last two weeks have been particularly sharp. Two winners from just six runners is a 33% win rate — nearly five times his season average — which suggests the yard is hitting a purple patch right now. Form clusters like this are often the clearest sign that a trainer has horses ready to run well, and Llewellyn appears to be in exactly that kind of moment.

One area where he genuinely stands out is wet weather. On very muddy, heavy ground, his horses win 3 races in every 18 — a 17% win rate, more than twice his overall average. That is not a fluke; it points to a trainer who either targets those conditions deliberately or has a gift for preparing horses that thrive when the ground is against most of the field. Either way, when the forecast looks bleak, Llewellyn's runners deserve a closer look.

His most interesting individual partnership is with a horse called Shipshape, who has won 2 of their 5 races together. That is a 40% win rate between them — a remarkable return that suggests a real connection between trainer and horse. By contrast, his most-used jockey, Aidan Keeley, has yet to ride a winner for the yard across 17 races together. Seventeen rides without a win is a notable drought, and it raises a quiet question about whether that partnership is genuinely working or simply one of convenience.

Llewellyn is still in the early chapters of what looks like a promising training career. The improvement from year to year, the wet-ground edge, and the current hot streak all point to a trainer who is learning fast and finding his level. Thirty-eight career winners in four years is a modest but solid foundation, and if the last fortnight is anything to go by, the next few weeks could add to that total quickly.