Michael & David Easterby

The most telling sign of a yard hitting form is when their recent results outpace their own season average, and that's exactly what's happening right now. In the last two weeks alone, they've sent out 5 winners from just 31 runners — a win rate of 16%, which is double what they've managed across the season as a whole. When a stable's short-term numbers start pulling away from their long-term average like that, it usually means something is clicking. Horses in form, confident horses, confident handlers.

One area where the Easterbys genuinely stand out is in the wet. On very muddy ground, they've won 3 races from just 8 attempts — that's winning more than a third of their races in conditions most trainers dread. Statistically, 38% is a remarkable number in any context; in horse racing, where even the best yards win fewer than 1 in 4 races they enter, it suggests they either know which horses thrive in the mud or they're very selective about when they run them. Probably both.

Their most productive jockey partnership is with Joanna Mason, who has ridden for the yard 232 times and partnered 20 winners — roughly 1 in every 12 rides. That's a significant sample of races, and the consistency of it tells you this is a working relationship built on trust and familiarity rather than occasional collaboration. One partnership worth watching with more interest is with Big Love, who has won 1 of their 7 races together — a modest return so far, but a name to keep in mind as that record develops.

Four years in, 212 winners banked, and a yard that clearly knows what it's doing when the rain comes down. The Easterbys are a stable worth following.