Wingmen

The first win came at Naas in December 2023, and the most recent at Navan in November 2024 — though that was now 17 months ago, and Wingmen has not won in the six races since. That run without a win is the main storyline here. Six races is not a crisis, but it is long enough to ask questions. The recent form reads 9-2-3-2-6-10, which tells an interesting story on its own: two second places and a third mixed in among some quieter efforts. This is not a horse that has fallen off a cliff — it is still placing, still competing — but the wins have dried up.

Jack Kennedy, one of Ireland's most highly regarded jockeys, has been in the saddle for six of those 12 career races and picked up the one win between them — a win rate of 1 in 6, or around 17%. That is below what you would hope for from such a consistent partnership, though it is worth noting Kennedy has been there for some of the placing efforts too, so the relationship is not as bleak as the bare win count suggests.

At eight years old, Wingmen is not young, but horses of this age can absolutely still win and compete at a solid level. The Elliott yard's sheer volume of success — 209 winners this season — means Wingmen is trained in an environment built around getting horses ready to perform. The question is simply whether one of those six near-misses is about to become a win. Raced just 17 days ago, the horse is active and in the mix. The form says a place is likely. Whether that translates back into a win any time soon is what anyone watching Wingmen right now is waiting to find out.