Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Thursday 27 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.
Thickthorn Tom
Harry Skelton is firing at 30% over the last month and Dan Skelton matches him stride for stride at 27%, so when the yard sends out the operation's best pilot, that is not a combination to wave past. SR 110 puts Thickthorn Tom at the head of the card on ratings, and with the stable in this form, 7/4 looks like the market doing its job rather than offering a reason to look elsewhere.
- Harry Skelton — 30% strike rate last 30d (7/23)
- Dan Skelton — 27% strike rate last 30d (7/26)
- SR 110 — top of the card
Shane Gray is landing 23% of his mounts right now and someone in the market has clearly done the same maths — Master Richard is a strict-majority steamer with no drift to speak of. Top of the card on SR at 92, this one is on the list.
- Shane Gray — 23% strike rate last 30d (7/30)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 92 — top of the card
Six signals stacking up behind a horse running at near-career-best rating of 87 — that's not noise, that's a pattern. Burke has freshened her up for 70 days and she came back placed last time, so this return looks deliberate.
- SR 87 — near career best (89)
- 6 independent signals aligned
- 70 days off the track — placed last time
Gore Point heads into the 18:12 with three straight wins under his belt and the market firming hard — that combination on a top SR of 125 is not something you ignore lightly. Sam Twiston-Davies takes the ride, and when the money talks this clearly on a horse already in this kind of nick, the watchlist writes itself.
- Won last 3 starts
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 125 — top of the card
Four signals locked in and the market's already moving — My Girl Katie is the most backed horse on the card at Newton Abbot tonight, and that SR of 99 doesn't lie. Something's known about this one, and the money's saying it plainly.
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 99 — top of the card
- 4 independent signals aligned