Wingmen

The horse last won at Navan in November 2024, and while it hasn't added to that tally in the six races since, the form figures — a string of seconds and thirds — tell a story of a horse that keeps running well without quite getting its nose in front. That's both a little frustrating and a little encouraging: Wingmen is clearly competitive, just waiting for things to click.

What makes the next chapter genuinely interesting is that Elliott is switching Wingmen to fences. The trainer has spoken enthusiastically about how well the horse has been schooling at home, describing him as a "smashing staying novice chaser" in the making. That matters, because jumping fences is a step up in the challenge — but it's also where bigger prizes tend to live for a horse of this profile. Elliott has noted that Wingmen's jumping improved noticeably when his jockey Jack Kennedy allowed him to stride on at Navan, and that the horse's natural size and scope make him look built for the bigger obstacles.

Kennedy is the regular partner, and they've won together once from six races — roughly 1 in every 6 outings as a pair. That's a modest number, but Kennedy's familiarity with how Wingmen travels and jumps could prove valuable as the horse finds its feet over a new discipline.

Wingmen raced just yesterday, so there's no question of energy — this is a horse currently in the thick of its campaign. At eight years old, switching to fences isn't a reinvention; for many horses, it's exactly the moment they come into their own. Elliott clearly believes there's a better horse waiting to emerge, and given how consistently Wingmen has placed throughout its career, the raw talent has always been there. Whether the fences unlock it is the question worth following.