The Racing Horse offers our WOLVERHAMPTON AW (Tapeta) RACECOURSE TEMPLATE for Thursday 30 July 2026. There is an 8-race card consisting of 2 Maidens, 5 Handicaps and a Classic Stakes Race. The going is expected to be standard.

Race-by-Race Nominations

WINNING FAVOURITES (5 years)
Non-handicap                    Handicap
2yo    94-215	44%   -18.44	29-107	  27%	 -34.62
3yo   171-325	53%    -1.47	212-688	  31%	-135.00
4yo+   76-202	38%    -7.02	463-1447  32%	-127.88
TOTAL 341-742	46%   -26.93	704-2242  31%	-297.50

TOP 5 TRAINERS at WOLVERHAMPTON AW 5 years      +/-   R
Tony Carroll (11%)  117-1146 10%   -323.82      -1%   1
Mark Loughnane (9%)  76-687  11%   -137.89      +2%   1
George Boughey (16%) 69-402  17%    -43.26      +1%   1 
M Appleby (11%)      65-496  13%    +39.72      +2%   2
Ian Williams (10%)   57-435  13%    -75.24      +3%   3   

TOP 5 JOCKEYS at WOLVERHAMPTON AW 5 years       +/-   R
Billy Loughnane (16%) 150-783  19%    -52.98    +3%   0
Rossa Ryan (17%)      134-610  22%    +21.76    +5%   0
Luke Morris (10%)     112-924  12%   -212.79    +2%   6   
Hollie Doyle (13%)     81-547  15%   -179.65    +2%   0   
Daniel Muscutt (13%)   75-444  17%    -42.41    +4%   0

Silvestre Sousa (13%)  13-90   14%    -23.67    +1%   6      

TOP 5 OWNERS at WOLVERHAMPTON AW 5 years        +/-   E
Godolphin (27%)	       34-105  32%   -22.80     +5%   0
Amo Racing (14%)       19-111  17%    -7.53     +3%   0        
Wedgewood Est (11%)    17-117  15%   -34.51     +4%   0       
D J Oseman (20%)       15-51   29%   +38.13     +9%   0     
Rabbah Racing (19%)    14-65   22%    -3.39     +3%   0    

FIXTURES:
Thursday 30 July 2026
Friday 31 July 2026

WHAT are RACECOURSE TEMPLATES?

UNDERSTANDING NATIONAL AVERAGES

SURFACE & CONFIGURATION: The Polytrack all-weather course at Wolverhampton forms a flat, left-handed oval circuit of just under a mile in length. The bends are fairly sharp and with a straight of under 2f in length it favours horses with the ability to hold a good position as opposed to those who need time to find full stride.

THE DRAW: Wolverhampton’s 5f, 7f and extended 1m starts can be tricky from a jockey’s point of view, because they’re very much draw-dependent. It’s a big advantage being among the low, left-hand numbers. The 1m 4f start can also be a slight problem, but at least from there you’ve got a longer trip to get sorted out. Nobody went round the inside in the early days and, while I’m not sure it’s a disadvantage to be there now, most jocks still shy away from that rail. It’s a tight course, but well laid-out and very fair - Jason Weaver

FAVOURITES: Favourites at Wolverhampton have returned 1,045 winners from 2,984 runners over the past five years, a strike‑rate of 35.02% and a level‑stakes loss of £324.43 to £1 at SP. That strike‑rate sits almost three percentage points above the national average, which continues to surprise us given the generally modest quality of racing staged here. In non‑handicaps, favourites have produced 341 winners from 742 runners (46%), and the damage to level stakes is comparatively small at £26.93. Handicap favourites, by contrast, show 704 winners from 2,242 runners (31%), returning a loss of £297.50, a figure that reflects both the competitiveness of these races and the vulnerability of short‑priced horses when pace or positioning goes awry.

TRAINERS: Tony Carroll (11%) is easily leading trainer at this course but based on volume. At this course he shows 291-3024 for 10% and a massive loss to level stakes of -841.08. He has just the one runner for this meeting in the 3yo filly PRINCESS OF LIMNOSS 4.35 to be ridden by ace jockey Silvestre De Sousa. She is a class dropper but has only beaten 2 horses home in 3 races to date (from 27 runners). This looks like suck it and see but the market will tell us more. Their combination records 4-32 for 13% (+13.33) but 9-32 for 28% in first or second place, suggesting competitiveness.

Sir Mark Prescott (17%) has his horses in fabulous form! The last 14 days show 9-22 for 41%. He scores 21% at the track so +4% above his national average. He has 2 runners today in WALKING ON STARS 5.47 & SI WHITE 7.32, both to be ridden by Luke Morris.

Something a little unusual and worth a look is the 6.57 Get Raceday Ready Claiming Stakes (Class 6) race over 6f. In this race there are 8 class droppers, meaning at least 7 will lose in this 11-runner race. Can we identify the winner? Check out our nominations page. The runners include BUZZ BOX (M Herrington) who drops from Class 3 to Class 6 whilst the other 7 drop from Class 4 to Class 6. These include HAVANAGREATTIME (R Carr), HOCKNEY (T Dascombe), HUNKY DORY (J Morland), JUNGLE DRUMS (J Osborne), MANLY FIREBALL (R Hughes), MISSION COMMAND (J Candlish) & SEU JO (J Boyle).

JOCKEYS: Only Luke Morris (10%) from our leader board has rides at this meeting. He has 6 including TILANI 5.10, WALKING ON STARS 5.47, OURAGAN 6.22, HAKIN ADRAAR 6.57, SI WHITE 7.32 & MIDNIGHT'S DREAM 8.42.

OWNERS: None of the top 5 owners at this course have a runner at this meeting.

Jockey Silvestre De Sousa (13%) is a world class jockey riding at Wolverhampton on Thursday and Friday, and he catches our eye! Even now, he can ride at 8st 4lbs and less, a remarkable weight for a rider who is still—without exaggeration—one of the most forceful finishers in the sport. In handicaps in the UK alone, he has scored 1277 winners from 8223 rides for a bigger strike rate of 16% winning prize money of £13,555,086 for his connections. He has 6 rides for this meeting and hard to see him not scoring. His rides include PRINCESS OF LIMNOS 4.35, PEARLY SQUIRREL 5.10, WYVILL 5.47, ANGEL SENSE 6.22, CROWN INN TO WIN 7.32 & AFRICAN SPIRIT 8.07. He has another 6 rides at this course on Friday and we are playing a form of stop at a winner and repeat over the two days!

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