Nick Gifford

The most reliable weapon in Gifford's armoury right now is jockey James Davies. The two have struck up a partnership that spans 68 races together, producing 9 wins — again, around 1 in every 8. That kind of consistency across such a large sample is not luck; it is two professionals who understand each other. Davies clearly knows how Gifford prepares his horses, and that familiarity tends to matter more than people realise.

Where Gifford really comes alive, though, is when the rain arrives. On wet or muddy ground, his horses win 5 from 23 races — a win rate of 22%, or roughly 1 in every 4 or 5 runners. That is dramatically better than his overall numbers, and it tells you something useful: when the forecast looks grim, Gifford's stable is one to watch. Whether that reflects the type of horses he trains, the way he conditions them, or simply a sharp eye for the right race on the right day, the results speak clearly.

One name to keep an eye on is Livy's Lad, a horse Gifford has run three times and won with once. A 1-from-3 record is modest on paper, but the fact that Gifford has kept coming back to this horse suggests he believes there is more to come. Trainers do not persist with horses they have given up on.

Forty winners in four years might not sound like headline news, but building a training record from scratch is genuinely hard work. Gifford is doing it methodically, and the numbers are trending in the right direction. The combination of a trusted jockey, a clear preference for wet ground, and a 13% win rate in a competitive environment suggests this is a yard still finding its ceiling.