Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Friday 31 July 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.
Kingstonian
Joseph Patrick O'Brien is firing at 27% over the last 30 days and has sent this one out near its career-best rating of 93. The market's already noticed — strict-majority money steaming in at 10/1 makes Kingstonian hard to ignore at Galway tonight.
- Joseph Patrick O'Brien — 27% strike rate last 30d (34/127)
- SR 92 — near career best (93)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
Appleby is firing at 34% over the last 30 days and has handed the saddle to Loughnane, who has been everywhere this month — 34 winners from 141 rides. Catullus arrives at a career-best 105 SR and 12/1 is a price that hasn't caught up with what's happening in that yard.
- Charlie Appleby — 34% strike rate last 30d (14/41)
- SR 105 — near career best (104)
- Billy Loughnane — 24% strike rate last 30d (34/141)
George Scott is running at 26% over the last 30 days and the market is already steaming St Mawes in without a single drifter to balance it. SR 90 tops the card and the money doesn't lie at 9/1.
- George Scott — 26% strike rate last 30d (10/39)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 90 — top of the card
John Butler is running at 31% in the last 30 days and he hasn't sent Spring Bloom out here to make up the numbers. Six signals stacking at an SR of 80 — two ticks off her career best — makes 2/1 look like a gift.
- John Butler — 31% strike rate last 30d (9/29)
- SR 80 — near career best (82)
- 6 independent signals aligned
Buick and Appleby are both running at over 33% in the last month — that combination landing on the same runner at Goodwood is not something you ignore. The market has already clocked it, money coming in with no drift to speak of, and at 15/8 there is still enough there to make it worthwhile.
- William Buick — 33% strike rate last 30d (21/63)
- Charlie Appleby — 34% strike rate last 30d (14/41)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters