Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Tuesday 23 June 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.
Limerick Leader
Three places on the spin and an SR bang on career best — Limerick Leader is running at the peak of his powers right now. Top of the card on ratings at 9/4 with James Bowen aboard, this one goes straight on the watchlist.
- Placed in last 3 starts (form: 222)
- SR 103 — near career best (103)
- SR 103 — top of the card
Coumeenoole hits Newton Abbot off the back of a 1-2-1 sequence and tops the card on a SR of 131 — this is the form horse, plain and simple. Harry Skelton lands 26% of his rides over a 611-run sample, and when he takes a short-priced favourite in this kind of nick, the record says you take notice.
- Placed in last 3 starts (form: 121)
- Harry Skelton — 26% career strike rate
- SR 131 — top of the card
Jafimgoso is running at a career-best SR of 107 — fractionally above his previous peak of 105 — which puts him at the top of this card on raw numbers alone. Harry Skelton's 26% career strike rate over 611 rides is the kind of cold statistic that makes this 5/2 look like a gift.
- SR 107 — near career best (105)
- Harry Skelton — 26% career strike rate
- SR 107 — top of the card
On Edge is hitting an SR of 85 — nudging past a career best of 83 — and that kind of peak form at 10/3 is exactly the price that slips away fast. Loughnane at 18% from nearly 1,500 rides and Mason ticking along at 19% is a combination that doesn't often waste a fit horse.
- SR 85 — near career best (83)
- Billy Loughnane — 18% career strike rate
- C Mason — 19% career strike rate
Baileys Khelstar arrives at a career-best SR of 92 — top of the card at Newbury tonight — and that number alone puts this one firmly on the watchlist. Oisin Murphy lands here at a 22% career strike rate over 1,074 runs, and when he picks up a horse already peaking, that pairing tends to matter.
- SR 92 — near career best (92)
- Oisin Murphy — 22% career strike rate
- SR 92 — top of the card