Grain Trade

That one win came at Market Rasen last autumn, and it was seven months ago now — long enough that the yard will be keen to remind everyone it can be done. Market Rasen is a quirky, tight track that suits certain horses down to the ground, and Grain Trade found it to its liking. Whether that can be replicated is the question hanging over its next few runs.

The most common sight in the saddle has been Gavin Sheehan, who has partnered the horse in 7 of its 16 races and landed that one win — a win rate of 14% together, which works out to winning roughly 1 in every 7 rides. That's meaningfully better than the horse's overall record suggests, which hints that Sheehan understands how to get the best from it.

Billy Aprahamian trains from Towcester in Northamptonshire, and his yard has sent out 12 winners this season — a yard in decent form, in other words, not one struggling to find its feet. Grain Trade operates almost exclusively at Class 5 level, the entry-level tier of British racing, where it has won 1 from 9 races at an 11% win rate. That's roughly 1 in every 9 at that level, which is modest but not negligible. It's a horse that competes honestly in these races without quite dominating them.

Recent form shows a third place, two fourths, and a second across its last six completed runs, with a couple of non-completions mixed in. The second place in particular suggests the talent is still there — this is a horse finishing in the top four regularly enough to suggest it belongs at this level. At seven, it isn't getting younger, but it raced just yesterday, which tells you the team still believes there are more days in it. A second win might not be far away.