Sly Man's Horses to Watch — Tuesday 8 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.
Krak
Harry Skelton is landing 38% of his rides this month — a 15-from-40 clip that makes him just about the hottest pilot in the weighing room right now. Krak runs an SR of 121, a whisker off the career-best 124, and with Dan Skelton sending them out at 33% from the yard, the Skelton machine is purring at exactly the right time.
- Harry Skelton — 38% strike rate last 30d (15/40)
- Dan Skelton — 33% strike rate last 30d (15/46)
- SR 121 — near career best (124)
Buick is landing 29% of his rides over the last month and here he walks in on a horse hitting a career-best speed rating of 97 — the market has already clocked it, money coming with no drift. Manxman at 5/6 is short, but this is the kind of convergence that makes the price irrelevant.
- William Buick — 29% strike rate last 30d (14/49)
- SR 97 — near career best (97)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
Harry Skelton has won 38% of his rides in the last 30 days — 15 from 40 — and Dan Skelton's yard is running at 33% in the same window, so the operation behind Lunar Orbit is in serious nick right now. An SR of 106 sitting just shy of a career best of 109 tells you the horse is hitting top form at exactly the right moment.
- Harry Skelton — 38% strike rate last 30d (15/40)
- Dan Skelton — 33% strike rate last 30d (15/46)
- SR 106 — near career best (109)
Harry Skelton is converting at 38% over the last 30 days and Dan Skelton is matching him stride for stride at 33%, so this is a stable operating at full tilt right now. Add a market that's been backed without a single drifter in the mix, and Camino Rocio at 4/1 looks like a price that won't survive to the off.
- Harry Skelton — 38% strike rate last 30d (15/40)
- Dan Skelton — 33% strike rate last 30d (15/46)
- Money coming — strict-majority steamer, no drifters
Harry Skelton at 38% over the last 30 days is the kind of number that makes 7/2 look careless, and when Dan Skelton is sending them out at 33% in the same window, you don't need much else. SR 114 tops the card, the yard is firing, the jockey is hotter than anyone here — Playful Fox goes straight on the watchlist.
- Harry Skelton — 38% strike rate last 30d (15/40)
- Dan Skelton — 33% strike rate last 30d (15/46)
- SR 114 — top of the card