Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Friday 21 August 2026
Five names off today's card. Not the headline favourites — the ones with a story the form book half-mentions.
Five worth watching today. Read the rating, read the angle, then make up your own mind. I'm the wiry one in the silks reading form on a tablet while the favourites warm up — here's what's caught my eye.
Welbury
Oisin Orr is burning at 28% over the last 30 days, and Edward Bethell is right behind him at 25% — when both signals fire together, 20/1 is a price worth questioning. Welbury is also running at an SR of 80, a whisker off her career best of 83, so the form is there to back the stable's current heat.
- Oisin Orr — 28% strike rate last 30d (18/64)
- SR 80 — near career best (83)
- Edward Bethell — 25% strike rate last 30d (14/57)
Ryan Moore is landing one in three at the moment — 17 from 52 in the last month — and when he partners a Boughey runner near peak condition, it pays to sit up straight. Lady Dora Mae's SR of 96 sits right against her career best of 98, and at 4/1 that's a combination worth marking down.
- Ryan Moore — 33% strike rate last 30d (17/52)
- SR 96 — near career best (98)
- George Boughey — 25% strike rate last 30d (14/55)
Hilltop arrives at a career-best SR of 87 and when the horse, jockey and trainer are all firing at 24% over the last 30 days, that kind of alignment doesn't come around often. Loughnane has ridden 35 winners from 143 rides this month — at 4/1, this is the one that caught my eye today.
- SR 87 — near career best (87)
- Billy Loughnane — 24% strike rate last 30d (35/143)
- Daniel & Claire Kubler — 24% strike rate last 30d (8/33)
Bethell is firing at 25% over the last month and the market has already clocked Porth Eilian — money coming in, no drift, strict majority steamer. SR 90 tops the card, and when the trainer form and the betting both point the same way, that is not a coincidence worth ignoring.
- Edward Bethell — 25% strike rate last 30d (14/57)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 90 — top of the card
Say What You See is posting an SR of 90, three points off a career best of 93, and sits top of the card at York this afternoon. Money is coming in steadily with no drifters in sight — at 12/1, that combination is too neat to ignore.
- SR 90 — near career best (93)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 90 — top of the card