Henry Candy

The headline numbers are 9 winners from 78 runners this season, but the story behind them is more impressive than the raw figures suggest. Candy has already collected five top-level Class 1 victories in his short career, at some of the most prestigious venues in British racing — Salisbury, Newmarket, and Goodwood. Most trainers spend years waiting for one of those. The most recent came at Newmarket in May 2025, following earlier wins at Salisbury in August 2024 and May 2023. That's a trainer who knows how to prepare a horse for a big occasion, and who keeps doing it.

Look more closely and a few patterns emerge. On normal ground conditions, Candy is exceptional — 5 wins from just 19 races, which works out at better than 1 in 4. That's a 26% win rate in conditions that should, in theory, level the playing field, which suggests his horses are genuinely well-prepared rather than relying on weather luck. Nottingham has also been a happy hunting ground: 3 winners from 9 runners there, a record that marks it out as somewhere worth paying attention to when his yard has a runner.

His most trusted partner on the track is jockey Trevor Whelan, who has partnered Candy's horses to 4 wins from 38 rides together — roughly 1 in every 9. That's a working relationship built on repetition and trust. Then there's Run To Freedom, a horse Candy has clearly built a real understanding with: 4 wins from 23 races together is the kind of record that tells you a trainer has found a horse they know inside out.

Four years in, 45 winners, five top-level victories, and a win rate quadrupling in a single season. Henry Candy is not a trainer to overlook.