Richard Phillips

Across four years and 22 career winners, Phillips has built a small but functioning yard since getting started in 2021. That total is modest, and nobody would pretend otherwise, but training winners at any level takes real work — finding the right races, keeping horses sound, managing owners' expectations. The fact that he has done it consistently enough to reach 22 tells you something about his staying power, even if this particular season has been hard going.

His most reliable ally in the saddle has been jockey Finn Lambert, though even that partnership has found things difficult recently — 2 wins from 44 rides together, which works out to roughly 1 in every 22. That is a low conversion rate, but the sheer volume of rides shows a genuine, ongoing working relationship rather than a one-off arrangement. When the horses find better form, that familiarity between trainer and jockey could start to pay off more visibly.

One small bright spot worth noting: on normal ground, Phillips has won 2 from 35 races this season, a 6% rate that comfortably outstrips his overall figures. It is a narrow sample, but it hints that when conditions are straightforward, his horses perform noticeably better. That is the kind of detail a trainer files away — knowing your horses have a preference, and finding races to match it, is exactly how small yards begin to improve their numbers. The story of this season is not a finished one yet.