James Fanshawe

The headline number this season is slightly down on where he was last year, when his win rate sat at 18% — closer to 1 in every 5 races. That kind of dip happens to every trainer, and the more telling sign right now is that his form appears to be turning. Over the last two weeks he has produced 2 winners from just 10 runners, a 20% return that comfortably outpaces his seasonal average. In training, a hot fortnight often matters more than a slow month.

One pattern worth noting is how well Fanshawe's horses perform on fast, dry ground. Nine wins from 40 races in those conditions works out to 22%, and that's not a small sample — it suggests he has horses in his yard that are specifically built to go well when the sun has been out. It's a useful thing to know if you're watching one of his runners on a summer afternoon.

His most reliable ally in the saddle is jockey Daniel Muscutt, whose 17 wins from 145 rides together represents a 12% win rate — exactly matching the yard's overall average, which is actually a compliment. It means Muscutt isn't just picking up the easy rides; he's delivering at exactly the level you'd expect across the board. The one partnership that hasn't clicked yet is with a horse called Engross, who is still searching for a first win from four attempts together. Four races is a short run in this sport, but it's the kind of stat that tends to stick in a trainer's mind.

Recent wins at Lingfield Park on both the February 2026 and November 2025 all-weather cards, plus a victory at Newcastle in April 2025, show Fanshawe is comfortable operating across different tracks and surfaces. Four years in, the foundations look solid.