Washington Heights

The first of those big days came at Newmarket in April 2024, when jockey Tom Eaves put him straight to the front and outran everyone. Trainer Kevin Ryan was quick to point out that Washington Heights had bumped into Shaquille earlier that season — a horse who went on to become one of the top sprinters around — which gives you a sense of the level this horse is operating at. The second Class 1 win followed at York in July 2025, and Ryan had flagged him as unlucky on that same course the previous year, convinced that faster ground would unlock his best. He was right. On dry, quick ground Washington Heights has won 2 of his 10 races — a 20% win rate, one in every five — compared to just 1 win from 13 races on slower surfaces. The ground condition genuinely transforms him.

His recent form reads 8-12-12-1-7-3, which captures the horse perfectly: capable of finishing down the field one week and winning a top-level race the next. That's not inconsistency so much as a horse who needs everything to fall his way — and when it does, he's a genuine big-race winner. Ryan's yard has been in strong form this season with 45 winners sent out, and Washington Heights raced just yesterday, so he's very much in the thick of things.

Tom Eaves has ridden him in 11 of his 23 races, winning once together (just under 1 in every 11), but that Newmarket victory showed what the combination can produce on a big occasion. Ryan has described him as "so tough and genuine" — a horse who has run his heart out in races without always getting the luck his effort deserved. Two wins at the very top level suggest the luck has finally started finding him.