Mason Paetel(5)

In roughly a year in the saddle, Paetel has ridden 40 winners in total, with 30 of those coming in the last 12 months alone from 264 rides — a win rate of around 11%, or just over 1 in every 9 races. For context, most experienced jockeys would be perfectly happy with those numbers. For someone still learning the job, it suggests a rider who is spending his early months not just making up the numbers but actually delivering results.

His most consistent working relationship is with trainer James Owen, who has put him up 86 times — a significant show of faith. That partnership has produced 8 winners together, winning roughly 1 in every 11 of those rides. It is not a flashy number, but 86 rides with one yard in such a short career tells its own story: Owen clearly trusts him, and in racing, trust from a trainer is the currency that builds a career.

The most eye-catching detail, though, is Epsom Downs. Paetel has ridden there just 5 times and already has 3 winners — a 60% win rate at one of the most technically demanding tracks in Britain. Epsom is famous for its steep camber, its sharp bends, and the way it exposes riders who do not know what they are doing. Riding well there is not something you stumble into. Three winners from five rides is the kind of record that makes people sit up and take notice, and it hints at a jockey who adapts quickly and thinks clearly under pressure.

At this stage of a career, the numbers can move fast in either direction. But a rider who is already winning 1 in 9 races after just a year, who has earned the confidence of an established trainer, and who seems to thrive at a track that sorts out the talented from the rest — that is someone worth keeping an eye on well before the weight allowance runs out.