Taunton is a right-handed, tight National Hunt track in Somerset with a short home straight. The sharp bends and relatively easy fences suit nimble types who can keep a handy position. Mostly Class 3-5 racing through the winter months.
Course Profile
| Direction | Right-handed |
| Surface | Turf |
| Racing | Hurdle (645), Chase (285), National Hunt Flat (52) |
| Total races (dataset) | 982 |
Top Trainers
| Trainer | Runs | Wins | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|
| P F Nicholls | 470 | 132 | 28.1% |
| P J Hobbs | 245 | 38 | 15.5% |
| D E Pipe | 366 | 34 | 9.3% |
| Harry Fry | 181 | 30 | 16.6% |
| J Scott | 200 | 30 | 15.0% |
| C L Tizzard | 213 | 29 | 13.6% |
| Evan Williams | 278 | 26 | 9.4% |
| N P Mulholland | 270 | 26 | 9.6% |
| Dan Skelton | 167 | 21 | 12.6% |
| Robert Walford | 99 | 20 | 20.2% |
| A J Honeyball | 139 | 20 | 14.4% |
| N J Hawke | 214 | 19 | 8.9% |
| Philip Hobbs & Johnson White | 78 | 18 | 23.1% |
| N J Henderson | 87 | 18 | 20.7% |
| Olly Murphy | 101 | 15 | 14.9% |
Top Jockeys
| Jockey | Runs | Wins | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|
| H Cobden | 255 | 76 | 29.8% |
| Sam Twiston-Davies | 195 | 33 | 16.9% |
| M G Nolan | 186 | 26 | 14.0% |
| Brendan Powell | 211 | 21 | 10.0% |
| David Noonan | 267 | 21 | 7.9% |
| T Scudamore | 215 | 20 | 9.3% |
| Aidan Coleman | 106 | 19 | 17.9% |
| R Johnson | 137 | 19 | 13.9% |
| James Best | 274 | 19 | 6.9% |
| Rex Dingle | 142 | 17 | 12.0% |
| N D Fehily | 85 | 17 | 20.0% |
| Lorcan Williams | 78 | 16 | 20.5% |
| Nick Scholfield | 174 | 15 | 8.6% |
| Harry Skelton | 88 | 14 | 15.9% |
| G Sheehan | 94 | 14 | 14.9% |
Favourite Performance
Across 1,045 races in the dataset, the market favourite won 403 times — a strike rate of 38.6%.
That’s above the national average (~32%), so favourites have a decent record here.
Going Distribution
| Going | Races | % |
|---|---|---|
| Good | 347 | 35.3% |
| Soft | 252 | 25.7% |
| Good to Soft | 183 | 18.6% |
| Heavy | 101 | 10.3% |
| Good to Firm | 99 | 10.1% |
The most common going description is Good, accounting for 35.3% of races.
Betting Angles
- P F Nicholls has a strong record here with 132 wins from 470 runs (28.1%). Worth noting when they have a runner.
- H Cobden rides this course well: 29.8% win rate from 255 rides.
- Favourites win 38.6% here, which is above average. The market reads this course well — opposing jolly requires a strong reason.