Clare Ellam

The most telling number in Ellam's record is what happens when conditions are right. On normal ground, she wins 2 from 12 — that's roughly 1 in every 6 races, a rate that would be the envy of trainers running far larger operations. It suggests that when the racing surface suits her horses, she knows exactly how to have them ready. The challenge, clearly, is that she cannot always pick her spots.

Her most reliable ally in the saddle has been Brendan Powell, and their partnership tells a story of two people still figuring out what works together — but figuring it out fast. Two wins from 13 rides, winning around 1 in every 6 and a half times they team up, is a meaningful return at this level, and there is clearly a working understanding developing between yard and jockey.

The partnership with Friends Dont Ask is a different kind of story — 1 win from 10 races together is a grind, and anyone watching that horse run repeatedly will know the feeling of nearly getting there. But the fact that Ellam has kept coming back to the same horse over ten races speaks to patience and belief, two qualities that tend to define trainers who eventually make their mark. Small yards do not carry passengers for long, so that loyalty means something.

Ellam is still early in her career, and a 7% win rate across 28 runners is not going to turn heads at the major festivals. But the improvement is real, the ground form is striking, and a trainer who is getting sharper each season, with a jockey partnership beginning to click, is worth watching. The next step is finding more horses that let her do what she clearly does well on a good day.