Charles Ritz

The trainer is Tom George, whose yard sits in Slad, deep in Gloucestershire. It has been a productive season so far — five winners sent out — and Charles Ritz is very much part of that picture. Jonathan Burke is the jockey most associated with this horse, having ridden him in 11 of his 14 races and coming away with 2 wins. That works out to roughly 1 win in every 5 or 6 rides together, which is a decent partnership by any measure. When you see the same jockey booked again and again, it usually means the team has found something that works.

What makes Charles Ritz genuinely interesting is how specific his conditions are. On slightly wet or soft ground, he transforms. In five races on that kind of surface, he has won twice — a 40% win rate, meaning he wins 2 in every 5 on soft ground. That figure is remarkably high and suggests this is not a horse who thrives everywhere, but a horse who really thrives in the right conditions. Similarly, at Class 4 level — the bread-and-butter tier of British jump racing, a step below the headline events — he has won 3 from 7, which is 43%, or nearly 1 in every 2 races. That is the sweet spot where Charles Ritz is at his most dangerous.

His first career win came at Southwell in December 2021, and his most recent came at the very same track in December 2025 — almost exactly four years apart, same venue, same winter month. Whether that is coincidence or quiet evidence that Southwell suits him, it is a detail worth remembering. He raced just one day ago and remains active, with recent form showing a win and a second place in his last four completed outings. For a ten-year-old still placing and winning at this rate, Charles Ritz is anything but a spent force.