Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Friday 23 October 2026
Nothing shorter than 5/1 makes my book. I'm looking beyond the obvious — but they still have to earn their place.
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.
Rastnet
Callum Rodriguez has won one in four over the last month and the market is moving for Rastnet with no drift in sight — four signals pointing the same way is the kind of confluence that earns a place on the watchlist. At 11/2 with steamer money arriving, this one is firmly on the radar.
- Callum Rodriguez — 25% strike rate last 30d (6/24)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- 4 independent signals aligned
Money is moving on Gonna Be Golden with purpose — strict-majority steamer at 7/1, no drifters, which tells its own story at this track. One win already banked at Dundalk AW, W. J. Lee in the plate at 17% over 30 days: this one is firmly in the notebook.
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- 1 prior win at Dundalk (AW)
- W. J. Lee — 17% strike rate last 30d (18/106)
City Captain tops the card with an SR of 99 — nudging past his career best of 97 — and the market has already clocked it, with money piling in and not a drifter in sight. Joanna Mason and Harriet Bethell have this one primed, and 8/1 looks generous for a horse running this well right now.
- SR 99 — near career best (97)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 99 — top of the card
Four signals lined up on the same horse, and the money is already moving — Laurel Crown is the steamer at 15:55 Doncaster with an SR of 148 topping the card. Oisin Murphy in the saddle for Balding at 15/2 is the kind of confluence that gets the tablet out.
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 148 — top of the card
- 4 independent signals aligned
Three wins at Wolverhampton already, and the market is moving in one direction — this is a strict-majority steamer with no drifters to muddy the picture. Sam England is firing at 14% over the last month and Jonny Peate takes the ride: the signals are lined up, and 13/2 still looks like a price worth grabbing.
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- 3 prior wins at Wolverhampton (AW)
- Sam England — 14% strike rate last 30d (6/44)