Mr R W Barron

One area where Barron does show a sharper edge is on wet or muddy ground, where he's won 1 from 10 races this season — a 10% win rate that puts him notably ahead of his overall seasonal average. It's a small sample, but it suggests he's a jockey who might actually relish the conditions that others struggle through. For trainers looking for someone to partner a horse on a soft winter's day, that's a useful calling card.

At 24 career winners and four years into his journey, Barron is still very much in the building phase of his riding life. The numbers this season are modest, but a drop in form is part of almost every jockey's story, and the gap between his current output and what he showed last year is encouragement enough that better times are within reach.