Patontheback

His best form has come at Musselburgh, the tight, flat track on the Firth of Forth just outside Edinburgh. He has won there twice from just three visits — a remarkable record that suggests the track genuinely suits him. His most recent win came there in August 2025, when he took an amateur race under jockey Amy Collier. That detail matters: amateur races are ridden by non-professional jockeys, which makes it a slightly more open contest, but a win is a win, and trainer Gemma Tutty clearly targeted the race smartly.

Tutty runs a yard at Osmotherley in North Yorkshire that has sent out 20 winners so far this season, which tells you this is a trainer who knows how to place a horse. She has spoken candidly about Patontheback — after a run at Catterick where everything went perfectly and he still could not win, she admitted she thought it was his best chance yet. That honesty is telling. He has slipped to a favourable mark in the rankings, meaning in theory he should be competitive, but luck has not fallen his way in recent races. His last six runs read 9th, 2nd, 6th, 10th, 7th, 6th — promising enough in places, but no win since that August day at Musselburgh.

His most regular partner is jockey Rowan Scott, who has ridden him 18 times and won on him 3 times — that is a win rate of 17%, or nearly 1 in every 6 rides together, which is actually well above the horse's overall average. It suggests Scott understands him. He raced just yesterday, so the yard are clearly keeping him busy as the season gets going. Tutty said recently he is nicely placed for this season if he gets a bit of luck — at Musselburgh, at least, the evidence suggests he is capable of delivering exactly that.