The most telling partnership in his yard right now is with jockey Wesley Joyce. Between them they have managed 3 wins from 27 rides together — that's about 1 in every 9, or an 11% win rate, which comfortably outperforms Smith's overall yard average. When a trainer finds a jockey who genuinely understands how his horses run, it shows up in the results, and Joyce appears to be that person for Smith at the moment.
One detail that stands out in the data is how Smith's horses perform on slightly soft, wetter ground — 2 wins from just 7 races in those conditions, which is a win rate of 29%, or roughly 1 in every 3.5. That is a striking number. It suggests Smith either has horses in his yard that naturally handle a bit of cut in the ground, or that he is getting sharper at picking the right days to run them. Either way, it is worth watching when the weather turns.
The partnership with Spirit Above is the one that has not clicked yet — four races together without a win. That does not tell us much on its own, and plenty of trainer-horse combinations take time to find their moment. At this stage in Smith's career, patience and persistence are probably the two most important tools in his box. The improvement is real, the Joyce partnership is a genuine asset, and the wet-ground record hints at a trainer who is starting to understand what he has. The next step is turning that into more winners.
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dundalk | 28 | 2 | 7.1% |
| The Curragh | 9 | 0 | 0% |
| Down Royal | 8 | 0 | 0% |
| Galway | 6 | 0 | 0% |
| Roscommon | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Gowran Park | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Bellewstown | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Naas | 3 | 0 | 0% |
| Navan | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Downpatrick | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Leopardstown | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Cork | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Kilbeggan | 2 | 0 | 0% |
| Sligo | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Limerick | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Punchestown | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Tipperary | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Ballinrobe | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Clonmel | 1 | 0 | 0% |