Zak Wheatley(3)

The headline moment came on 22 August 2025 at York, where Wheatley rode his first top-level winner. York matters. It is one of the grandest racecourses in Britain, a place where the best horses in the country turn up and only the sharpest riding gets rewarded. Landing a Class 1 race there is not something every jockey manages in a career, let alone four years in. It is the kind of afternoon that changes how trainers see you.

His most important relationship in the saddle is with trainer Declan Carroll. Across 166 rides together they have won 17 races — that is roughly 1 in every 10, a noticeably better return than his overall season average, which suggests Carroll trusts him with horses that are ready to win rather than just making up the numbers. Those sorts of partnerships take time to build and tend to be the engine behind a jockey's progress.

Two other details are worth paying attention to. On fast, dry ground, Wheatley wins 6 from 41 races — about 1 in every 7, comfortably his best surface and a meaningful edge over his general numbers. And at Wolverhampton specifically, he has turned 4 winners from just 20 rides, which is 1 in every 5. Wolverhampton is an all-weather track that runs year-round, and knowing a circuit well — its bends, its pace patterns, where to be in a field — makes a genuine difference. Four wins from 20 rides there suggests he does know it well.

At 75 career winners in four years, Wheatley is not yet a household name. But the York result puts him on the map, and the numbers suggest a rider who is improving in the right places.