Fiona Needham

One of the more intriguing threads running through her career so far is her partnership with Great Notions. The pair have been out together six times without a win to show for it, which is the kind of record that would test anyone's patience. But the fact that Needham keeps coming back to this horse suggests she believes there is a performance in there waiting to happen — and sometimes that faith is what separates a trainer who develops a horse slowly from one who gives up too soon.

Where Needham does show a clear edge is on slightly wet ground. In those conditions she has won 1 race from 5 runners, a 20% win rate — that's 1 in every 5 — which outperforms her overall numbers by a meaningful margin. For a small yard, identifying the conditions where your horses genuinely thrive is one of the sharpest tools available, and it looks like Needham is starting to figure that out.