Julia & Shelley Birkett

What makes that figure more interesting is the direction of travel. In their first year they were winning around 1 in every 14 races — about 7%. That has now nearly doubled to 12%, which suggests this is not a yard that got lucky early and levelled off, but one that is actively improving as it finds its feet. Eighteen winners from 153 runners does not sound dramatic until you consider that most small operations spend their first year just learning how the game works.

The engine room of their success has been jockey Dylan Hogan, who has partnered their horses 83 times and ridden 12 of those 18 winners — winning roughly 1 in every 7 rides for the yard. That is a tight working relationship, and those numbers suggest Hogan is not just a booking of convenience but a genuine part of how the operation functions. When a jockey wins at that rate for a single yard, it usually means he understands the horses and the trainer trusts him to deliver.

On the individual horse front, Beachborough Girl has caught the eye, winning 1 of 3 races alongside the yard — a decent record for any horse. Whether she develops into a flagship performer for Birkett remains to be seen, but she has already given the team a taste of what a reliable yard horse can look like.

The story here is simple but worth telling: two trainers, just over a year in, improving fast, with a trusted jockey beside them and numbers that are already beating a sizeable chunk of the professional training ranks. If the win rate keeps climbing the way it has, this is a yard worth watching very closely indeed.