Boston Dan

The yard behind him is Richard and Peter Fahey, a father-and-son training operation based at Musley Bank in North Yorkshire. They have sent out nine winners already this season, so the horses are running well enough in general — Boston Dan is just having a tougher time of it. His regular jockey is Oisin Orr, who has ridden him in seven of his eleven races and has that one win to show for it — a ratio of roughly 1 win from every 7 rides together. That is not a partnership that has set the world alight, but it is consistent, and familiarity between horse and rider does matter.

Where Boston Dan looks most interesting is when he steps into Class 4 company — one level below the very top tier, but competitive enough to mean something. In those races he has won 1 from 4, which is a 25% win rate, or one in every four attempts. That is a genuinely solid number. For context, most racehorses would be delighted with that kind of return at any level. It suggests that when the conditions and the company are right, Boston Dan is a different proposition entirely. The challenge for the Fahey team now is working out why the form has dipped so sharply since that September win, and whether there is another day like Hamilton Park just around the corner.