Nicky Richards

This season's numbers are quietly impressive: 39 winners from 219 runners, which works out at roughly 1 in every 6 races. That is a solid, consistent operation. But what really catches the eye is what has happened in the last two weeks — 6 winners from just 9 runners. That is a win rate of 67%, against a seasonal average of 18%. When a yard is in that kind of form, every runner they send out becomes worth a second look.

Newcastle is a track where Richards has developed something of a stranglehold. Six winners from 18 runners there is a remarkable return — one in three, which is the kind of record that demands attention every time a horse from this yard is declared at that course. For context, most trainers would be delighted with half that.

The most productive partnership in the yard is with jockey Danny McMenamin, who has ridden to 23 wins from 117 races together — winning roughly 1 in every 5, a fraction better than Richards' overall average. That consistency across more than a hundred rides together suggests a real working understanding between trainer and jockey. Meanwhile, the horse La Zoubida has delivered 3 wins from 8 races alongside Richards — a partnership that has clearly clicked.

Still only four years into the job and already winning the biggest races on offer, Richards looks like a trainer on an upward curve that has no obvious ceiling yet.