Harel Du Marais

The partnership with jockey James Bowen is the headline story here. Four wins from eight races together means Bowen has won half of everything he has ridden on this horse — an extraordinary ratio that far outstrips Harel Du Marais's overall career win rate of roughly 1 in every 7 races (14%). When these two are paired up, something clearly works.

Southwell is where Harel Du Marais is most dangerous. Two wins from just four races there — that is one in every two attempts — makes it a genuine stronghold. Most horses win at that kind of rate at maybe one track across a long career, if they are lucky. His trainer Charles and Adam Pogson, based at Farnsfield in Nottinghamshire, know the circuit well and have sent out 12 winners this season across their yard, so this is a team in decent form.

Ground conditions matter too. Harel Du Marais has won 2 from 7 on slightly soft ground and another 2 from 7 on properly wet, muddy ground — so when the rain comes, pay attention. Dry, fast ground seems to take something away from him. The bulk of his career has been spent in Class 4 races, one step below the elite level, where he has won 2 of 20 — a tough ask at that level, but he keeps placing, which is why 17 places alongside those 5 wins tells you he rarely runs a stinker.

His most recent win came at Stratford-on-Avon just eight weeks ago, and he raced again as recently as yesterday, so this is a horse in the thick of a busy campaign. At nine years old, with form on the board and a jockey who clearly brings the best out of him, Harel Du Marais looks like a horse who has saved some of his best days for last.