Roger Fell

The most encouraging sign is the direction of travel. Last year, Fell's yard was winning roughly 1 in every 14 races — a solid if unspectacular return. This season, that figure has jumped to 23 winners from 232 runners, or about 1 in every 10. That kind of improvement in a single year is not accidental. It suggests the operation is maturing, the horses are improving, and someone in that yard is making better decisions.

If you want to understand where Fell's horses are most dangerous, head to Redcar on the North Yorkshire coast. There, he has sent out 8 winners from just 18 runners — nearly half of everything he has run there has won. That is a staggering return for any trainer, and it is the sort of record that should make people pay attention every time one of his horses is declared at that track. He also has a notable edge when the rain has softened the ground: in wet or muddy conditions, his horses win 5 times from 18 races, a win rate of 28%, or more than 1 in every 4. On a showery northern race day, Fell's runners deserve serious respect.

His most reliable jockey partnership is with Mark Winn, who has ridden 6 winners from 52 races for the yard — roughly 1 in every 9 rides. That kind of consistent relationship matters in racing, where trust between trainer and jockey can be the difference between a horse performing or underperforming. Fell also has an ongoing association with Coloane, a horse he has saddled 14 times for 2 wins — a working partnership that suggests the team knows exactly what that horse needs to show its best.

Four years in, 100 winners banked, and a win rate that is heading in the right direction — Fell is one of the more interesting trainers to follow in the north of England right now. The trajectory alone makes him worth watching.