Linda Blackford

Her most notable partnership is with Rangatira Jack, a horse she has saddled 17 times for one win together. That tells a story of persistence — this is a pairing she keeps returning to, even if the results haven't always followed. Her most-used jockey is Sean Houlihan, who has ridden 13 of her horses without a winner so far, suggesting the combination is still searching for its moment.

On normal ground, she shows her best numbers: 1 winner from 12 runners at around 8%, or roughly 1 in every 12 — noticeably better than her overall figures, which hints that when conditions play fair, her horses perform closer to their potential. At four years in, Blackford is still writing the early chapters of her training career, and the foundations are there to build on.