Never Better (IRE)
Never Better won one of six starts, the success coming at Kempton over 6f-7f on standard AW in a Class 5 novice in Mar 2024. The gelding, by No Nay Never out of a Galileo mare, has placed in five of his six runs overall. He finished third of nine as favourite at Yarmouth in Oct 2024, his last run, off an official rating of 76 which was also his career-high mark.
- 1–6Wins / Runs
- 16.7%Strike rate
- 5 (83.3%)Placed
- −2.50£1 level staken=6 at SP
- 0.72Fair A/E n=6 · 0.60 incl. margin
- 76Highest OR
- 49dAvg between runs
A/E compares actual wins with what starting prices implied. "Fair" strips the bookmaker margin from the expectation, so favourites and longshots are judged on the same footing — figures near 1.00 mean the market priced this horse about right.
KTB Speed and Rating
Best recent Speed 97
How fast the horse ran, as points against the day-corrected standard time for its course and distance: 100 is the median GB Class 4 handicap winner on that code; one point is 0.1% of the standard time. A, B or C is how much the day's card could tell us, not how good the run was. What this means →
| Going | Runs | Best | Median | Since 28 Oct 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (AW) | 3 | 97A | 97 | — |
| Soft | 1 | — | — | — |
| Good | 1 | — | — | — |
| Good to Firm | 1 | — | — | — |
| Distance | Runs | Best | Median | Since 28 Oct 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1m – 1m1f | 4 | 114C | 95 | — |
| 6f – 7f | 2 | 97A | 97 | — |
KTB Speed v1 · batch 15 Sep 2026 · GB & Irish racing only · 6 figures from 6 runs · as at 3 Oct 2026 · a record, not a forecast
Both figures are KTB's own, computed from the archive; no vendor rating enters either. Every run's figure is on its form line below with its grade. Grades measure how much the archive could see, never the merit of the run.
Pedigree intelligence
Progeny in our archive have won 12.1% of 6,335 runs since Jan 2008 (707 horses).
Weakest on good to soft going: 9% from 612. Weakest over 1m5f – 2m (all codes): 7.6% from 185.
| Going | Runs | Wins | SR | vs sire | This horse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Firm | 16 | 5 | 31.3% | +19.2 | — |
| Good to Firm | 927 | 122 | 13.2% | +1.1 | 0 from 1 |
| Good | 1,489 | 181 | 12.2% | +0.1 | 0 from 1 |
| Good to Soft | 612 | 55 | 9% | −3.1 | — |
| Soft | 845 | 110 | 13% | +0.9 | 0 from 1 |
| Heavy | 285 | 37 | 13% | +0.9 | — |
| Standard (AW) | 2,161 | 256 | 11.8% | −0.3 | 1 from 3 |
| Distance (all codes) | Runs | Wins | SR | vs sire | This horse |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Under 6f | 911 | 122 | 13.4% | +1.3 | — |
| 6f – 7f | 3,391 | 440 | 13% | +0.9 | 1 from 2 |
| 1m – 1m1f | 1,183 | 131 | 11.1% | −1 | 0 from 4 |
| 1m2f – 1m4f | 583 | 54 | 9.3% | −2.8 | — |
| 1m5f – 2m | 185 | 14 | 7.6% | −4.5 | — |
| 2m1f – 2m4f | 77 | 5 | 6.5% | −5.6 | — |
| 2m5f – 3m | 5 | 0 | 0% | −12.1 | — |
Flat and jumps together (all codes) · since Jan 2008 · as at 28 Oct 2026 · rows under 30 runs muted · win % is the measure, a record not a forecast
3 siblings in the archive, 0 winners.
| Produce | Runs | Wins | Win trips | Best grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Woodshaw (IRE) | 8 | 0 | — | — |
| Sierra Vista (IRE) | 3 | 0 | — | — |
| Je Te Donnerai (FR) | 2 | 0 | — | — |
Record by conditions
| Going | Runs | Wins | SR | £1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard (AW) | 3 | 1 | 33% | +0.50 |
| Soft | 1 | 0 | 0% | −1.00 |
| Good | 1 | 0 | 0% | −1.00 |
| Good to Firm | 1 | 0 | 0% | −1.00 |
| Class | Runs | Wins | SR | £1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Class 5 | 4 | 1 | 25% | −0.50 |
| Class 4 | 2 | 0 | 0% | −2.00 |
| Course | Runs | Wins | SR | £1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kempton (AW) | 2 | 1 | 50% | +1.50 |
| Yarmouth | 1 | 0 | 0% | −1.00 |
| Ayr | 1 | 0 | 0% | −1.00 |
| Newbury | 1 | 0 | 0% | −1.00 |
| Southwell (AW) | 1 | 0 | 0% | −1.00 |
| Distance | Runs | Wins | SR | £1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1m – 1m1f | 4 | 0 | 0% | −4.00 |
| 6f – 7f | 2 | 1 | 50% | +1.50 |
| Jockey | Runs | Wins | SR | £1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jack Mitchell | 3 | 1 | 33% | +0.50 |
| James Doyle | 3 | 0 | 0% | −3.00 |
Splits include every sample, however small — muted rows are under 3 runs. A one-from-one record is a fact, not a trend: read the Runs column before the strike rate.
Form
| Date | Course | Race | Pos | Btn | Wgt | OR | Spd | KTB | Jockey | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 · 6 runs | ||||||||||
| 07 Oct 24+18d | Yarmouth | Royal Marines Association Handicap Settled handy while pulling hard early - boxed in approaching final 2f - eased out right a furlong out - stayed on late to snatch third - unable to threaten the winner | 3/9 | nk | 9-5 | 76 | 97A | 92A | Jack Mitchell | 7/4F |
| 19 Sep 24+21d | Ayr | Ayrshire Cancer Support Handicap Sat close to eventual winner - pushed into advantage inside the final furlong - caught right on the line to finish second by a nose | 2/13 | shd | 9-9 | 74 | 89C | 92A | James Doyle | 15/8F |
| 29 Aug 24+139d | Newbury | LPG & Lettings Hub Handicap (Str) Sat behind pace on the wide side - moved smoothly into contention past 2f out - pushed to challenge inside the final furlong - kept on strongly but edged out of second close home | 3/14 | hd | 9-4 | 74 | 114C | 87A | James Doyle | 10/3F |
| 12 Apr 24+41d | Southwell (AW) | Get Emma's Offers At Planetsportbet Handicap | 3/9 | 1¼ | 9-8 | 74 | 93A | 88A | James Doyle | 11/4 |
| 02 Mar 24+24d | Kempton (AW) | Try Unibet's Improved Bet Builder Novice Stakes (GBB Race) | 1/12 | 9-0 | — | 97A | 92A | Jack Mitchell | 5/2F | |
| 07 Feb 24 | Kempton (AW) | Unibet Supports Safe Gambling Novice Stakes (GBB Race) | 5/13 | 1 | 9-0 | — | 97B | 70A | Jack Mitchell | 5/1 |
Quick answers
- How many races has Never Better won?
- Never Better (IRE) won 1 of 6 archived starts in 2024, a strike rate of 16.7%. Placed 5 times in total (83.3% of starts).
- Who trained Never Better?
- Never Better (IRE) was trained by Roger Varian on the most recent run on record, at Yarmouth on 7 October 2024.
- Who is Never Better's sire?
- Never Better (IRE) is by No Nay Never (USA) out of Just Gorgeous (IRE), whose sire is Galileo.
- What going does Never Better prefer?
- Never Better (IRE) has the best record on standard (aw) going: 1 win from 3 starts (33.3%). Only going bands with at least three archived starts are read, so this is a direction rather than a settled preference.
- What is Never Better's official rating?
- The most recent official rating on record is 76, from the run on 7 October 2024. That is also the highest on record.
- What is Never Better's sire's record?
- No Nay Never (USA)'s progeny in our archive have won 12.1% of 6,335 runs since Jan 2008 (707 horses), Flat and jumps together. Weakest on good to soft going: 9% from 612. Weakest over 1m5f – 2m (all codes): 7.6% from 185.
- Who are Never Better's siblings?
- Out of Just Gorgeous (IRE), Never Better (IRE) has 3 other produce in our archive, 0 of them winners. As at Oct 2026.