The last twelve months have been a mixed picture. Whelan has ridden 32 winners from 387 rides this season — roughly 1 in every 12 races — which represents a dip from the 11% win rate he posted the previous year. Eight percent is still a respectable return for a jockey at this stage of his career, but the slide is worth watching. In sport, a drop in numbers rarely happens for just one reason, and whether this is a blip or a trend will say a lot about where Whelan is headed.
What lifts him above the ordinary is his record at the very top level. Three Class 1 victories — the biggest races in Britain — at York, Goodwood, and Doncaster is a meaningful achievement. These are the occasions where everything is harder: the fields are deeper, the margins are smaller, and the pressure is real. His most recent, at Doncaster in October 2025, is a reminder that he belongs in those moments. Most jockeys ride hundreds of races without ever winning at that level. Whelan has done it three times.
His most productive working relationship is with trainer A P O'Brien, one of the most respected operations in racing. From 64 rides together, Whelan has produced 11 wins — that is 17%, or nearly 1 in every 6 races, more than double his overall season rate. When O'Brien's yard puts him on a horse, the chances of it winning go up sharply, and that kind of trust from a top trainer is not handed out lightly.
Perhaps his most intriguing quality is what happens when the rain comes. On wet or muddy ground, Whelan has won 5 times from just 16 races — a 31% win rate, or nearly 1 in every 3. That is a striking number. Some jockeys simply read deteriorating conditions better than others, adjusting their timing and positioning when the ground gets heavy and unpredictable. Whether by instinct or technique, Whelan appears to be one of them, and on a wet afternoon at a big meeting, that is exactly the kind of edge that matters.
| Course | Races | Wins | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Curragh | 80 | 4 | 5% |
| Dundalk | 70 | 5 | 7.1% |
| Leopardstown | 34 | 3 | 8.8% |
| Naas | 30 | 4 | 13.3% |
| Gowran Park | 25 | 1 | 4% |
| Galway | 22 | 3 | 13.6% |
| Cork | 20 | 2 | 10% |
| Navan | 20 | 0 | 0% |
| Roscommon | 19 | 1 | 5.3% |
| Listowel | 13 | 2 | 15.4% |
| Killarney | 13 | 1 | 7.7% |
| Tipperary | 11 | 0 | 0% |
| Bellewstown | 6 | 2 | 33.3% |
| Ballinrobe | 5 | 1 | 20% |
| Punchestown | 4 | 1 | 25% |
| Down Royal | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Clonmel | 4 | 0 | 0% |
| Sligo | 2 | 1 | 50% |
| Doncaster | 1 | 1 | 100% |
| Laytown | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Nottingham | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Thurles | 1 | 0 | 0% |
| Fairyhouse | 1 | 0 | 0% |