Jennie Candlish

This season she has sent out 60 winners from 487 runners, which works out at roughly 1 in every 8 races — a 12% win rate. That's a dip from last year's 19%, which was closer to 1 in every 5, so there's a natural question about whether that earlier pace was the ceiling or the floor. The honest answer is probably that 19% was an exceptional year, and 12% across nearly 500 runners is still a healthy, productive operation. Volume and consistency matter in training, and Candlish has both.

Her most reliable ally in the saddle has been jockey George Wood, who has partnered her horses to 13 wins from 118 rides together — again, around 1 in every 9, which tracks closely with the yard's overall numbers. That kind of consistency across a large sample of rides suggests a genuine working relationship rather than a lucky run. When a jockey and trainer are on the same page about how a horse should be ridden, you tend to see that reflected in the numbers over time, and Wood and Candlish have that.

Newton Abbot is worth flagging as a track to watch when her horses turn up there. Three winners from just 7 runners — that's nearly 1 in every 2 — is a remarkable conversion rate. Some trainers simply read a particular course well, whether it's the shape of the track, the typical ground conditions, or the type of race that tends to be on offer. Whatever the reason, Candlish's record there suggests it's a venue where her horses tend to arrive ready.

The partnership with Lewisham Grove — one win from seven races together — hasn't fired as often as you might hope, but seven races is still a small sample and doesn't tell the whole story. With 193 career winners already banked in just four seasons, Candlish has earned the right to be judged on the bigger picture, and that picture looks genuinely promising.