Yorkshire Glory

The broader numbers back that up. Across 28 career races, Yorkshire Glory has won 9 and placed in a further 18, giving it a win rate of 32%, or roughly 1 in every 3 races. That is a genuinely impressive return. And right now, the horse is in the form of its life: five wins from its last six races, with the only blemish an eighth-place finish that now looks like a blip. The most recent win came at Newcastle just four weeks ago, and with a race as recently as yesterday, this is a horse very much in the thick of things.

A lot of that momentum is built around a strong partnership with jockey Andrew Mullen, who has ridden the horse to 6 of its 9 career wins from just 12 rides together — a win rate of 50%, or one in every two races. That is a remarkable figure. When Mullen is in the saddle, something clicks. Behind them both is trainer Ben Haslam, whose yard at Middleham Moor in North Yorkshire has been in fine fettle this season, sending out 32 winners. Haslam is not a name that dominates the headlines, but a yard producing at that level clearly knows what it is doing.

One detail that ties everything together is the ground. Yorkshire Glory has won all 9 of its races on normal conditions — winning 9 from 18 on standard ground, a 50% win rate. Wet or dry extremes seem to take the edge off, but on a fair surface, this horse is a different proposition entirely. A five-year-old in the middle of a purple patch, with a jockey it clearly clicks with and a track it treats like a second home — Yorkshire Glory is exactly the kind of horse a knowledgeable friend would quietly point out before the race starts.