Stanage

The yard behind Stanage is Michael and David Easterby, based at Sheriff Hutton in North Yorkshire, and they are in good form this season — 53 winners sent out, which is the kind of output that tells you a stable is functioning well and their horses are fit and ready. Joanna Mason takes the ride most often, partnering Stanage in 10 of its 19 races and winning once together. That 1 from 10 record (10%) is a modest return, but it mirrors the horse's overall profile: consistent enough in the frame, waiting for the right day to go one better.

Both wins have come at Class 4 level — one step below the top tier of everyday racing, the kind of race where Stanage belongs and where it has won 1 from 7 attempts (14%). The first win came at Chelmsford in October 2024, and the second at Doncaster in March 2025. Doncaster in late March is not the most glamorous fixture on the calendar, but winning there is no fluke — it is a proper, well-regarded track, and the fact that Stanage got its head in front there is worth noting.

The recent form is harder to ignore, though. The last six runs read 7-5-4-6-7-9, which tells you the horse has been finishing mid-pack at best and well behind at worst. A ninth-place finish is not just losing — it is losing by a distance, and the trend since that Doncaster win has been firmly in the wrong direction. Whether the team have found an answer to that slide will become clear quickly, since Stanage is currently active and racing now.