Charlie Fellowes

Fellowes has now sent out 130 career winners in four years, which speaks to a yard operating at genuine volume and quality simultaneously. This season, he has won 20 races from 233 runners — roughly 1 in every 12 — which sits at 9% across the board. But zoom in on the last two weeks and the picture sharpens considerably: 2 winners from just 13 runners, a 15% win rate that is two-thirds better than his season average. That kind of short-term spike often signals a yard coming into form, with horses hitting their stride as the season builds.

One of the more intriguing patterns in Fellowes' record is how well his horses perform when the ground gets wet and heavy. On slow, muddy ground, his team wins 7 from 43 races — 16%, or roughly 1 in every 6. That is nearly double his overall rate, which suggests he has a particular eye for placing horses in conditions that suit them, or simply that his yard trains horses who handle testing ground better than most.

His most productive partnership with a jockey is with Kieran Shoemark, who has ridden 4 winners from 50 races together — 8%, or about 1 in every 12 rides. That is a long-standing working relationship built on familiarity and trust, even if the numbers are modest. By contrast, the eight-race partnership with Sword Of Wessex has yet to produce a single win, making it one of those combinations that keeps getting another chance without quite delivering — the kind of subplot that keeps racing interesting.

Still only four years in, Fellowes is building a record that looks considerably more seasoned than his experience suggests. Six top-level wins before many trainers have found their feet is not something you can manufacture — it means he can prepare a horse for a big occasion, and have it ready when it matters.