National Hunt 2019-20 : Dodlands Steading season review (published 25th September 2020)

A statistical review of the 2019-20 season for Dodlands Steading is provided below.

*  statistics from 1st August 2019 - 31st July 2020
** placed runner covers those of our horses in the first 4 in a race where there is prize money won

After enduring the endless dry winter of 2018-19, the rain and generally wet conditions of autumn and winter during 2019-20 were welcomed by all National Hunt trainers in Britain and Ireland. Very little sub-zero temperatures too and there were healthy field sizes at most fixtures.
At Dodlands, most of our horses were slightly undercooked on seasonal debut. We do not house a large string of horses and aim to have the jumpers running through to end of April / early May. So as fitness improves, so should the form figures......well, that's the theory!

Of course, the worldwide pandemic curtailed our season by a good couple of months. So whilst 4 winners has a disappointing look about it, we feel that would have been added to in normal circumstances.
Regular readers will both be aware that we put a lot of stock into the place-to-runner ratio as a measure of stable form. 50% of runners in the first 4 as a target is setting the bar high. Conversely if this percentage drop below 25%, thought and action is required!

Over the whole season our runners getting placed racked in at 57%!!!
Our winning ratio was 9% (4 winners), not too bad but we had 9 second places which was 20% of our runners.

This figure of 57% though, is a tremendous achievement, so members of the Dodlands Steading Team take a bow!

To measure the ability of the horses here at Dodlands, we use Racing Post Ratings (RPR) which are allocated to every horse after each race in which it competes.
These give an indication of the quality of performance achieved by the string. Taking an RPR of 100 to represent an average level of performance, the yard had 11 of our 16 horses that raced who achieved one or more performances at a higher than average level during the season.

The table below lists each of these individual performances.

So, a fantastic effort by the team not the least being maintaining the mid-season of place-to-runner ratio of 57% to the end. Many thanks -
Georgina, Alan, Cameron, Callum, Garry, Connor, Pinky, Kingy, Leah, Laura, Rebecca, Lewis and Ollie. Plus of course our vet Sarah S, and Helen!

Thanks to all our owners too, it goes without saying none of this would be possible without you.   

Baby Ticker (dark colours) racing at Hexham in December - on her way to victory