Harry Derham

What sets Derham apart from many trainers at his career stage is the quality of his victories, not just the quantity. He has won six top-level races in his career so far — the kind that matter most in British racing — at tracks including Taunton, Wincanton, and Kempton Park. Two of those came in quick succession in February 2026, with Class 1 wins at Huntingdon on the 5th and Wincanton on the 14th, followed by another winner at Kempton on the 21st. Three winners across three different tracks in under three weeks tells you this is not a one-trick operation.

Haydock Park has been a particularly happy hunting ground. Five winners from just 11 runners there is the kind of conversion rate — nearly 1 in every 2 runners winning — that signals something more than luck. Trainers who travel to specific tracks with that kind of confidence usually know exactly what they are doing with horse placement.

In the saddle, jockey Paul O'Brien has become Derham's most reliable weapon. Together they have combined for 44 wins from 188 rides, winning at a rate of 23% — better than 1 in every 4 races they contest as a partnership. That kind of consistency between trainer and jockey usually comes from mutual trust and a shared understanding of how horses are prepared and ridden. Then there is Norn Iron, a horse the yard has won 3 races with from just 9 runs together — a partnership that has clearly clicked.

Three years in, 165 winners, six top-level victories, and a 1-in-5 win rate across nearly 300 runners in a single season: Harry Derham is one of the most compelling emerging trainers in the sport right now, and the trajectory only points one way.