P Cluskey

The most telling detail in Cluskey's record so far is the partnership with jockey Liam McKenna. Together they've combined for 2 wins from just 10 rides, meaning they've won 1 in every 5 times they've teamed up. That's a sharp ratio for any trainer-jockey combination, let alone one this early in a career. When you find a jockey who clicks with your horses, you stick with them — and these numbers suggest Cluskey has found that person.

On the ground, Cluskey's horses show a clear preference for normal conditions, winning 2 of 21 races run on a standard surface. Both winners have come there, which is a useful pattern to know. It suggests the yard's horses aren't built for heavy, churned-up winter tracks — they want the ground to be fair before they perform.

The one slightly puzzling figure is the long-running partnership with Stormy Jenn — 39 races together and just 1 win. That's a lot of racing for one horse, and while it tells us the horse has been a consistent presence in the yard, it also shows that consistent presence doesn't always translate to results. Every trainer has a horse like this: kept busy, rarely rewarded. What matters is what the rest of the string does around it.

A 5% win rate with 40 runners is a small sample, but the direction of travel is the right one. Two wins where there were none before, a productive jockey partnership taking shape, and a clearer picture of what conditions suit the horses — Cluskey is assembling the right pieces.