High-Rise made his racecourse debut at the very end of the 1997 British flat-racing season, when he was entered in an eighteen-runner maiden race at Doncaster.

[9] Ridden by Olivier Peslier, High-Rise was held up in the early stages and was still towards the rear as the field turned into the straight, led by the 150/1 outsider Sunshine Street.

The two colts raced alongside each other in the closing strides and reached the line almost together, with High-Rise, under a strong ride from Peslier, winning by a head.

[11] Plans to run High-Rise against the Prix du Jockey-Club winner Dream Well in the Irish Derby, which would have involved paying a £75,000 supplementary fee, were abandoned after Cumani decided that the horse needed more time to recover between races.

Ridden by Mick Kinane he stayed on strongly after being unable to find a clear run in the closing stages and finished seventh, beaten three lengths, behind Sagamix.

Although he was believed to be one of Godolphin's best hopes for the Dubai World Cup, and was described as being in "cracking form"[18] prior to the race he ran very disappointingly, finishing tailed off last of the eight runners behind Almutawakel.

[20] The change in plan proved profitable as High-Rise earned £268,000 in the Tokyo race, in which he finished third behind Special Week and Indigenous, ahead of notable performers such as Montjeu, Borgia and Stay Gold.

A month later he finished third of sixteen runners to Fantastic Light in the Dubai Sheema Classic, but returned from the race with an ankle injury which kept him off the racecourse for the next ten weeks.

[23] Before his next race High-Rise's ownership was transferred back to Mohammed Obaid Al Maktoum and the horse was moved to the stable of Kiaran McLaughlin in New York.

In the 1998 International Classification (the forerunner of the World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings) High-Rise was given a rating of 127, equal to Real Quiet, Victory Gallop and Dr Fong and one pound below the top-rated three-year-old Desert Prince.