Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Saturday 22 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.
Limestone
Ryan Moore is running hot — 29% strike rate in the last 30 days — and he's been booked onto a horse that has won its last three on the spin. The market's already cottoned on, money coming in with no drift to speak of, so this one's firmly on the radar at 4/1.
- Ryan Moore — 29% strike rate last 30d (17/58)
- Won last 3 starts
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
Varian is running at 35% over the last month and Raammee arrives at a career-best speed rating of 109 with the market already shortening — that's three signals pointing the same way. Ray Dawson gets the leg-up on a horse the money is following, and at 5/2 there's still a price worth taking.
- Roger Varian — 35% strike rate last 30d (18/52)
- SR 109 — near career best (109)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
Brian Hayes at 27% and Mullins firing at 31% in the last month is a combination that commands respect, and the market has already clocked it — money coming in with no drift in sight. Daddy Long Legs at 7/4 is where the serious signals are pointing today.
- Brian Hayes — 27% strike rate last 30d (8/30)
- W P Mullins — 31% strike rate last 30d (29/95)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
Harry Skelton at 33% over the last 30 days is the kind of stat that makes 5/6 look less ugly, and with Dan Skelton matching him at 28% from the same yard, this is a yard firing on all cylinders right now. The market has already clocked it — strict-majority money coming in, no drift — so this one is firmly on the watchlist.
- Harry Skelton — 33% strike rate last 30d (7/21)
- Dan Skelton — 28% strike rate last 30d (7/25)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
Harry Skelton is firing at 33% over the last month and Dan Skelton is matching him stride for stride at 28% — when the stable and the saddle are both this hot, you pay attention. Supreme Yeats sits at the top of the card on an SR of 122, and 5/1 with this operation in this kind of form is the angle.
- Harry Skelton — 33% strike rate last 30d (7/21)
- Dan Skelton — 28% strike rate last 30d (7/25)
- SR 122 — top of the card