Mr H C Swan

The partnership with Gordon Elliott is where Swan really catches the eye. Fifteen wins from 71 races for Elliott's yard gives him a win rate of around 1 in every 5 — noticeably better than his overall average — which tells you that Elliott trusts him with horses that have a genuine chance. When a trainer of Elliott's standing keeps putting you up, it says something. That level of confidence from one of the biggest yards in Irish racing is not handed out lightly, and Swan seems to have earned it quietly but consistently.

Ground conditions make a real difference to how Swan performs. On normal ground he has won 9 of 31 races, just under 1 in every 3 — that is a remarkably high conversion rate for any jockey. It suggests he rides with particular confidence and timing when conditions are straightforward, rather than having to adapt to tricky or unpredictable surfaces.

Clonmel is the course where he looks most at home. Three winners from just 6 races there is a brilliant record — effectively winning half the time — and that kind of dominance at a specific track usually means a jockey reads the track well, knows its rhythms, and turns up there with the kind of quiet self-belief that horses seem to respond to.

Eighty-three career winners in four years, a growing alliance with one of Ireland's top trainers, and a course he practically owns — Swan is the kind of jockey whose name is worth remembering before the wider world catches on.