Eoin Staples(5)

The most telling number in his record is what happens when he teams up with trainer Gavin Cromwell. Across 90 rides together, they've combined for 16 wins — that's nearly 1 in every 5, almost double his overall rate. That kind of partnership doesn't happen by accident. It suggests a real working relationship, the sort where a trainer trusts a jockey enough to put him on their better horses and a jockey knows the yard's horses well enough to get the best out of them.

He also has a knack for wet conditions. On soft or muddy ground, he wins 10 from 58 races — around 1 in 6 — which is noticeably better than his overall numbers. Some jockeys struggle to adapt when the ground gets testing, asking horses for effort at the wrong moment or misjudging the pace. Staples clearly doesn't have that problem. And at Sligo specifically, he's won 3 of his 10 rides there — 30%, or nearly 1 in every 3 — which is the kind of course record that makes trainers pick up the phone when they're heading there.

What makes this profile particularly timely is his current form. Over the last two weeks he's won 2 from 11 rides — an 18% win rate against his season average of 10%. Form streaks in racing can be fleeting, but they often reflect a jockey riding with real confidence, reading races well and making fewer errors. Right now, Eoin Staples looks like someone hitting their stride.