Mark Michael McNiff

The most revealing number in his record is the partnership with jockey Phillip Enright. Three wins from 37 rides together — about 1 in every 12 — might not sound like much, but in a yard operating at this level, having a jockey you can rely on is genuinely valuable. When McNiff and Enright line up together, there's a working rhythm there that the statistics reflect. It's the kind of relationship that tends to quietly produce results over time.

Where McNiff shows a clearer edge is on normal ground conditions. His horses have won 3 from 42 races on a standard surface — roughly 1 in 14 — and that 7% return outperforms his overall season average. It suggests his string tends to be better suited to conventional conditions than to the extremes, which is useful information when you're trying to pick your spots through a long season.

The one head-scratcher is Brave Soldier. Eight races together without a win is a frustrating run for any partnership, and at some point the question becomes whether the horse simply hasn't found the right opportunity yet, or whether this particular combination has run its course. Eight attempts is long enough that it stands out as a notable blank in an otherwise functional record.

McNiff is still in the early chapters of what could be a long training career, and 26 winners in four years is a legitimate base to build on. The challenge now is converting more of those 105 annual runners into winners — because at 1 in 21, there's clearly room to grow.