Liam McKenna

This season, McKenna has ridden 8 winners from 136 races — roughly 1 in every 17 — which represents a modest but genuine improvement on last year's 1-in-20 rate. Neither figure will turn heads on a stats sheet, but the direction of travel matters. Win rates for young jockeys tend to climb slowly, and incremental progress year on year is exactly what a career at this level needs to look like at this stage.

One detail that stands out is his record on wet or muddy ground: 3 wins from 32 races in those conditions works out at roughly 1 in every 11, noticeably better than his overall average. That kind of edge can be genuinely valuable in British jump racing, where soft ground is not a rarity but a routine part of the winter season. Jockeys who thrive when the ground gets testing tend to pick up more opportunities in the months that matter most.

The one relationship that hasn't clicked yet is with trainer M A Molloy, where 19 races together have produced no winners at all. That's a run of results that, at some point, either delivers a breakthrough or quietly unravels. For now, it remains an open question.

At 28 career winners and with a top-level race already banked, McKenna sits in an interesting position — not yet a name the casual fan would recognise, but not a journeyman either. The Cheltenham win tells you he can deliver on a big day. The question the next few seasons will answer is whether that moment stays a highlight or becomes a foundation.