Robert Walford

Where Walford genuinely stands out is in the wet. On very muddy, heavy ground he has won 5 races from just 19 runners — a 26% win rate, meaning more than 1 in 4. That is a striking number. Plenty of trainers struggle when conditions turn grim and the ground cuts up; Walford's horses seem to relish it. It suggests he knows how to spot a horse that handles the mud, and he is not shy about running them when conditions suit.

Exeter is another place where his name is worth noting. Three winners from 12 runners at a single track is the kind of quiet consistency that adds up. Racecourses each have their own character — the cambers, the bends, the distances — and some trainers simply click with certain venues. Walford appears to have found one.

His most productive relationship with a jockey is with Harry Kimber, who has partnered Walford's horses to 10 wins from 88 rides together — around 1 in every 9. That is a working partnership built on familiarity, and those numbers suggest both men are getting the best out of each other over a meaningful sample of races. The pairing with Ted The Thief has so far produced 1 win from 6 races, a combination that has yet to really click but clearly has enough in it to keep coming back.

At four years in, Walford is still a trainer on the rise rather than one at the peak of his powers. The slight dip this season will not worry seasoned observers too much — what stands out is the wet-ground record and the Exeter form, two things that tell you a trainer knows exactly what he is doing with the right horse on the right day.