Wilful

The biggest moment of that run came on 20 December 2025, when Wilful won a Class 1 race at Ascot — one of the top races in British racing, at one of the sport's most prestigious venues. That alone tells you this is not an ordinary horse. Class 1 races are where the best compete, and Wilful handled it. Two months later, the horse went out and won again at Cheltenham just a fortnight ago, which is where this story gets even more interesting given that the training yard is based right there in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire. Home advantage in racing is a real thing, and Wilful seems to thrive under the local spotlight.

The trainer is Jonjo O'Neill, who runs the yard alongside his son A.J. O'Neill, and it has been a productive season — 53 winners sent out already. The jockey most often in the saddle is Jonjo O'Neill Jr., who has ridden Wilful to all 7 of those career wins from 14 rides together. That is a win rate of exactly 50%, and the consistency between horse, rider, and yard is one of the clearest reasons for Wilful's success. When these three elements click, they click reliably.

One detail worth watching is the ground. On slightly wet conditions, Wilful has won 4 from 5 races — that is an 80% win rate, which borders on the remarkable. The horse is markedly better when there is a bit of give underfoot. The one puzzling note in the record is that Wilful has never won in four attempts at Class 2, the level just below the very top. Yet the horse went and won at Class 1. Racing can be strange like that — sometimes a horse simply rises to the biggest occasion rather than grinding through the middle ranks, and Wilful, with a first career win as recently as December 2023, appears to be one of those horses still finding its ceiling.