High Honour

The first came at Goodwood in September 2022, and it was one of the better races of its life — a Class 2, which means one of the more prestigious events in British racing. Winning at that level, at one of the most celebrated tracks in the country, is a genuine achievement for a horse that spends most of its time finishing in the places rather than taking them. That Goodwood win remains the career highlight, and nearly three years on, it still defines what this horse is capable of on the right day.

The other striking number is what happens when the ground gets wet. On soft or muddy ground, High Honour has won 2 of its 5 races — a 40% win rate, which is exceptional. For context, most racehorses win somewhere between 10% and 20% of their races across a full career. Forty percent in any condition is the kind of figure that makes trainers and jockeys sit up. It means that when the rain comes, this horse transforms.

The problem is that those conditions don't always arrive, and the rest of the record reflects that. High Honour hasn't won in its last 6 races, and the most recent win came at Sligo in August 2024 — 21 months ago now. At six years old and trained by Donal Kinsella out of Dunleer in County Louth, the horse is still active and raced just yesterday. John Shinnick rides most often, with 1 win from 12 races together, though that single win is the same 8% as the overall career rate — steady rather than inspired.

What High Honour really needs is a wet afternoon at the right distance — somewhere around a mile and a furlong to a mile and two. That combination has produced 1 win from 3 races, a 33% rate, and combined with the wet-ground preference, it's easy to see how the stars occasionally align for this horse to produce something genuinely good. The wait for those conditions to stack up again is the story of its career.