Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Sunday 5 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.
Granny Hawkins
Three on the bounce and she comes back off a 77-day break having already shown she handles a return to action — that's the combination that gets her on the list. SR of 112 tops the card, Tom Bellamy takes the ride, and Alan King doesn't run them fresh unless they're ready.
- Won last 3 starts
- SR 112 — top of the card
- 77 days off the track — placed last time
Regal Renaissance heads into the 16:00 on the back of back-to-back wins and tops the card with an SR of 128 — nothing here comes close. Sean Bowen lands 23% of his rides across 1,161 runs, and he doesn't waste that record on horses without a case.
- Won last 2 starts
- Sean Bowen — 23% career strike rate
- SR 128 — top of the card
Way Maker is running at SR 108, one point off a career best and the highest figure on the card today — that's not coincidence at evens, that's a horse arriving in the form of its life. James Bowen's 18% career strike rate across 604 rides is the kind of number that earns trust, and a trainer-jockey combination within the same family tends to mean the horse goes out knowing exactly what's wanted.
- SR 108 — near career best (109)
- SR 108 — top of the card
- James Bowen — 18% career strike rate
Oneinthewell tops the card with an SR of 93, and that freshness flag — 146 days off the track — means nothing when the horse came back placed last time out. Chadwick's 15% career strike rate over 94 rides is exactly the kind of quiet number that keeps slipping past the market.
- SR 93 — top of the card
- 146 days off the track — placed last time
- Alex Chadwick — 15% career strike rate
Rapper's Delight tops the card with an SR of 92 and already knows how to win here at Southwell. Saffie Osborne slots in at 14% career strike rate over 661 rides — that's not a soft booking.
- SR 92 — top of the card
- 1 prior win at Southwell (AW)
- Saffie Osborne — 14% career strike rate