Tom Eaves

His most important professional relationship is with trainer Kevin Ryan, and the numbers tell you everything you need to know about how well they work together. From 178 rides for Ryan's yard, Eaves has won 17 times — that is roughly 1 in every 10, or about twice the rate he achieves for everyone else. In a sport where trust between jockey and trainer takes years to build, that kind of consistency is worth a lot.

This season, though, things have been harder. Eaves has ridden 535 times and won 32, which works out at around 1 in every 17 — a win rate of 6%. Last year he was winning 1 in every 10 rides, so the dip is noticeable. Whether that reflects the horses he has been given, a run of bad luck, or something more fundamental is difficult to say from the outside, but at 199 career winners he is tantalizingly close to a landmark 200 — and you sense he will be keen to put a difficult season behind him.

One area where he genuinely stands out is in wet or soft conditions. When the ground gets heavy and the mud starts flying, Eaves has won 7 from 48 races — a win rate of roughly 15%, or nearly 1 in every 7. That is a significant edge, and trainers who know their horse needs a wet day to be at its best will often have Eaves in mind. His partnership with Lord Capulet, meanwhile, has produced 1 win from 5 races together — not a dominant record, but enough to suggest a trainer who trusts him with a specific horse over a longer period.

At 199 winners and with six top-level victories already on his record, Eaves has already achieved more than most people who ever sit on a racehorse. The next chapter will be about whether he can rediscover the form that made last season so much more productive.