Sly Man's Jockeys Taking Aim — Sunday 23 August 2026
The riders I'm watching today — the loaded books, the marquee bookings, the form jocks pinging the radar.
Five riders worth watching today. A loaded book is a market signal in itself — when a form jock has multiple chances, the yard sees the day as live. I read the diaries with one eye on the silks, one on the trainer form. Here's what's caught my eye.
⚡ Harry Skelton rolls into today on the back of three winners in seven days, and at 27% across 692 career rides he is not a man who wastes your time. The one to follow is At The Oche in the 14:38 — a rating of 120 on that mount, and Skelton doesn't get put up on a 120-rated horse to make up the numbers.
- 3 winners in the last 7 days
- 27% career strike rate (692 rides)
- On At The Oche (SR 120) in the 14:38
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14:08
Camino Rocio T: Dan Skelton10/3 Pulled up
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14:38
At The Oche T: Dan Skelton5/4 Fell
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15:08
Delulu T: Dan Skelton7/2 🥈 2nd
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15:38
Down To Business T: Dan Skelton5/4 🏆 WON
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16:08
Playful Fox T: Dan Skelton- Race at 16:08
Billy Loughnane
⚡ Billy Loughnane is in the form of his life right now — seven winners in seven days is not a purple patch, it's a man who's found something and isn't letting go. Get him onside in the 14:50 where Space Dreamer (SR 147) gives him his best shot of the afternoon, and that 19% career rate looks like a floor, not a ceiling.
- 7 winners in the last 7 days
- 19% career strike rate (1774 rides)
- On Space Dreamer (SR 147) in the 14:50
- 14:50 Space Dreamer 11/2 🏆 WON
- 15:20 Dreams Galore 11/8 🥉 3rd
- 15:50 Arnaz 5/2 6th
- 16:20 Knights Gold 9/4 🏆 WON
- 16:50 My Old Mate 4/7 🥈 2nd
Sean Bowen
⚡ Sean Bowen lands a heavy book of seven today — and at 23% over 1,216 career rides, that volume means winners plural, not singular. Little Ledgend (SR 113) in the 14:38 is the one to follow: Bowen doesn't take a ride like that lightly.
- 23% career strike rate (1216 rides)
- 7 rides across the card
- On Little Ledgend (SR 113) in the 14:38
- 14:08 All Inn Hand 18/1 Pulled up
- 14:38 Little Ledgend 3/1 🏆 WON
- 15:08 Pedro's Moon 4/1 8th
- 15:38 Network Gold 5/1 🥈 2nd
- 16:08 Network Rgb 14/1 🏆 WON
- 16:38 Trouville 4/1 🥈 2nd
- 17:08 Lady Harriett 17/2 11th
James Bowen
⚡ James Bowen rolls in with a solid 18% career strike rate from 631 rides — not a man you quietly ignore — and his best shot today is Fervent in the 15:38, a mount carrying a speed rating of 157 that the big-name pages seem to have slept on. Five rides across the card means Bowen's fully committed to this meeting, and that 15:38 booking is the one worth circling.
- 18% career strike rate (631 rides)
- On Fervent (SR 157) in the 15:38
- 5 rides across the card
- 14:08 Axel Bleue 11/4 🏆 WON
- 15:08 Turbogeist 2/1 4th
- 15:38 Fervent 5/1 4th
- 16:38 Letterston Lily 4/1 🏆 WON
- 17:08 La Lolita 22/1 4th
Gavin Sheehan
⚡ Gavin Sheehan holds a tidy 20% career strike rate across 553 rides, and that ticks up to 23% at Worcester specifically — six from 26, not a fluke. Pep Talking's 114 speed rating in the 14:38 is the best number on his card today, and Sheehan at this track is the booking the each-way merchants will wish they'd noticed sooner.
- 20% career strike rate (553 rides)
- On Pep Talking (SR 114) in the 14:38
- 23% strike rate at Worcester (6 from 26)
- 14:38 Pep Talking 13/2 🥈 2nd
- 15:08 Queens Glance 40/1 Race at 15:08
- 16:08 Kernie d'Airy 9/1 4th