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First-time headgear stats: cheekpieces, blinkers and more

How horses wearing cheekpieces, blinkers, a visor, a hood or a tongue tie for the first time perform, jumps and Flat. Today's first-time headgear runners are listed each morning from the declarations.

32 runners declared today in first-time headgear · Results to 16 October 2026 · Refreshed 16 October 2026
10.1%
First-time cheekpieces, Oct 2025
32
Headgear runners today

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Key takeaways

  • The first-time headgear table covers cheekpieces, blinkers, visor, hood and tongue tie, plus headgear removed, for jumps and Flat.
  • Today's first-time headgear runners, 32 at the latest refresh, are listed each morning with headgear type, course, off time and trainer.

First-time headgear, jumps

First-time cheekpieces12,6919.6%1,3559.1%4628.9%1,21412341-
First-time blinkers5,5717.6%4577.4%20912.9%4253427-
First-time visor2,45210.4%25311.5%9912.1%2562912-
First-time hood6,0836.9%6348.4%2397.9%4185319-
First-time tongue tie14,3648.8%1,34210.2%5189.1%1,26313747-
Any first-time headgear39,7368.8%3,8959.5%1,4609.7%3,477369142-
Headgear removed21,3317.8%1,8909.0%7799.1%1,67217171-
All runners475,06310.8%45,20611.2%14,99911.1%51,1995,0671,660-

British and Irish jumps. First time = worn today and never worn in any earlier British or Irish run since May 2014. A horse wearing two new items counts in both rows. Ten seasons = 2016/17 to 2025/26. Source: RaceWatch results database.

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First-time headgear, October 2025 jumps

First-time cheekpieces6910.1%7-
First-time blinkers313.2%1Under 50 runs
First-time visor1631.3%5Under 50 runs
First-time hood5012.0%6-
First-time tongue tie11114.4%16-
Any first-time headgear26712.4%33-
Headgear removed21712.9%28-
All runners4,05612.1%489-

Rows under 50 runs flagged.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

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First-time headgear, Flat

First-time cheekpieces18,4348.7%1,9177.8%1,8719.8%1,607150184-
First-time blinkers11,9998.6%1,15510.5%8808.8%1,02712177-
First-time visor7,0958.3%66310.7%6109.5%5887158-
First-time hood7,6537.2%8356.0%6576.4%5505042-
First-time tongue tie10,5947.2%1,1938.5%1,0549.5%767101100-
Any first-time headgear54,4408.2%5,6118.7%4,9289.1%4,460486446-
Headgear removed30,5918.4%3,0729.7%2,6569.0%2,567298238-
All runners727,30910.4%73,72010.7%63,12210.8%75,9957,9046,823-

British and Irish Flat, turf and all-weather.

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Trainers with first-time headgear, ten seasons

Dan SkeltonMainly NH66818.7%125-
Gordon ElliottMainly NH1,00312.4%124-
William HaggasMainly Flat62119.5%121-
Joseph Patrick O'BrienMainly Flat1,13310.6%120-
Paul NichollsMainly NH56420.7%117-
Willie MullinsMainly NH57518.4%106-
Aidan O'BrienMainly Flat63813.8%88-
Charlie ApplebyMainly Flat34425.3%87-
Olly MurphyMainly NH45017.8%80-
Fergal O'BrienMainly NH45515.8%72-
Hugo PalmerMainly Flat55512.6%70-
David PipeMainly NH66810.3%69-
Mrs John HarringtonMainly Flat7269.4%68-
David O'MearaMainly Flat61910.8%67-
Archie WatsonMainly Flat61310.9%67-
Ian WilliamsMainly Flat52912.1%64-
Ralph BeckettMainly Flat38516.6%64-
George BougheyMainly Flat45513.6%62-
John GosdenMainly Flat34417.7%61-
Sir Mark Prescott BtMainly Flat32518.5%60-
Michael ApplebyMainly Flat6878.6%59-
Saeed bin SuroorMainly Flat28920.1%58-
Tim EasterbyMainly Flat7068.2%58-
Henry de BromheadMainly NH52110.7%56-
Gavin CromwellMainly NH49611.1%55-
Andrew BaldingMainly Flat50211.0%55-
D K WeldMainly Flat52710.1%53-
Richard FaheyMainly Flat52910.0%53-
Nicky HendersonMainly NH26619.5%52-
John & Thady GosdenMainly Flat31215.7%49-
Roger VarianMainly Flat38412.5%48-
Johnny MurtaghMainly Flat40111.7%47-
Donald McCainMainly NH4849.5%46-
Ger LyonsMainly Flat31214.1%44-
Neil MulhollandMainly NH5138.6%44-
Richard HannonMainly Flat37511.5%43-
James OwenMainly Flat21619.9%43-
Rebecca MenziesMainly NH4409.5%42-
Kim BaileyMainly NH26315.2%40-
Clive CoxMainly Flat32212.1%39-
Ben PaulingMainly NH31512.4%39-
Anthony HoneyballMainly NH25815.1%39-
Keith DalgleishMainly Flat4019.7%39-
Noel MeadeMainly NH4229.2%39-
Ed DunlopMainly Flat4049.4%38-
Marco BottiMainly Flat4668.2%38-
Jonjo O'NeillMainly NH33611.0%37-
Harry FryMainly NH24515.1%37-
Gary MooreMainly Flat33111.2%37-
Tom DascombeMainly Flat35710.1%36-

Any first-time cheekpieces, blinkers, visor, hood or tongue tie, jumps 2016/17 to 2025/26 and Flat 2016 to 2025. Top 50 by winners, minimum 30 runs.

Additional research statistics and historical returns are in the RaceWatch app.

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Today's first-time headgear runners

32 runners today match this. See them in the app.

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Headgear changes on today's card

Members see headgear changes on every runner in today's racecards, with RWS scores and full trainer profiles.

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Do first-time cheekpieces improve a horse?

The main tables show the ten-season and current season figures for comparison.

How do blinkers and a visor compare?

Blinkers and visor sit in their own rows on the jumps and Flat tables, each with runs, strike rate

What about hoods and tongue ties?

First-time hoods and tongue ties are measured the same way, so the effect of each piece of equipment can be read on one table.

What happens when headgear is removed?

Horses running without headgear they wore last time are shown as their own group, alongside an all runners row for context.

Which trainers do best with first-time headgear?

The trainers table ranks 50 jumps and Flat yards by their record with first-time headgear over ten seasons

Questions people ask

Do first-time cheekpieces work?

Ten-season and current season figures for every headgear type are in the main tables.

What headgear types are covered?

The tables cover first-time cheekpieces, blinkers, visor, hood and tongue tie, plus any first-time headgear and headgear removed. Jumps and Flat are measured separately.

How many first-time headgear runners are there today?

The latest refresh found 32 runners wearing headgear for the first time among today's declarations. The list updates every morning.

Which seasons are covered?

Jumps figures cover ten seasons from 2016/17 to 2025/26 and Flat figures cover 2016 to 2025. Current season columns update after every racing day.

More free data

Chase debut statsFirst time over fencesLast-time-out winnersHow often winners follow upHorse yard movesHorses that changed trainerDays since last runWin rate by days offRacing reportsMonthly reports and the annual review

Go deeper before the next race.

Open every racecard in full and get your research done before they go to post.

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Updated