Phil McEntee

One of the more interesting threads running through his record is his performance on wet or muddy ground. With 2 wins from just 7 races in those conditions, he's winning 29% of the time — nearly 1 in every 3 — which is a striking number. That suggests McEntee either has a sharp eye for placing horses that genuinely love soft ground, or he knows when to hold back and when to strike. Either way, it's the kind of edge that's worth watching for when the rain arrives.

Great Yarmouth also appears to be something of a happy hunting ground. Four winners from 19 runners at the track might sound modest in isolation, but consistency at a specific course often reflects a trainer who understands the track's quirks — how it rides, how races tend to unfold, which types of horse tend to thrive there. When McEntee turns up at Yarmouth, it's worth taking notice.

His most regular jockey partnership is with Grace McEntee — almost certainly a family connection — who has ridden 74 times for the yard with 4 wins to show for it, a win rate of around 1 in every 18 rides. That's a relatively modest return on a high volume of rides, though it also reflects the reality that trainers and their go-to jockeys often take on races together across a wide range of horses and conditions, not just the obvious favourites. The relationship is clearly built on trust and familiarity rather than headline numbers.

Still only four years in, McEntee is the kind of trainer whose story is still being written. One hundred and three career winners is a foundation, not a ceiling.