Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Friday 4 September 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 landing 37% of his rides this month and Dan Skelton is matching him stride for stride at 35%, so the combination alone demands attention — then you clock that Thickthorn Tom has won his last three on the spin. At 13/8, the market knows, but this operation firing in tandem with a horse in that sort of form is not something to walk past.
- Harry Skelton — 37% strike rate last 30d (11/30)
- Dan Skelton — 35% strike rate last 30d (11/31)
- Won last 3 starts
Harry Skelton at 37% and Dan Skelton at 35% over the last month is a yard firing on all cylinders, and the money has already spotted it — this one's a strict-majority steamer with no drift in sight. At 4/11 the return is modest, but the signals are stacking too neatly to ignore.
- Harry Skelton — 37% strike rate last 30d (11/30)
- Dan Skelton — 35% strike rate last 30d (11/31)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
Six signals lined up on the same horse and the market is already moving — that kind of confluence at Kempton AW doesn't happen by accident. SR 91 tops the card, David Egan is in the plate, and the money is coming in one direction only.
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
- SR 91 — top of the card
- 6 independent signals aligned
Harry Skelton at 37% in the last 30 days is not a number you ignore, and when Dan Skelton's yard is firing at 35% in the same window, the combination at the top of the SR rankings makes this one fairly hard to argue against. Hoe Joly Smoke is the one to beat at Bangor today.
- Harry Skelton — 37% strike rate last 30d (11/30)
- Dan Skelton — 35% strike rate last 30d (11/31)
- SR 123 — top of the card
Harry Skelton at 37% in the last 30 days is the kind of stat that makes 2/1 look lazy, and when his old man's yard is firing at 35% in the same window, the combination is hard to ignore. The market's already clocked it — money coming in, no drift — so this one's firmly on the watchlist.
- Harry Skelton — 37% strike rate last 30d (11/30)
- Dan Skelton — 35% strike rate last 30d (11/31)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters