The 2025/26 season was a best-ever National Hunt season for Andy Slattery.  Not only did he have his best season ever numerically, by some way, both in terms of number of winners and in terms of prize money won, but he also bagged his first Grade 1 win when Fleur In The Park landed the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse in April.

The son of Walk In The Park has already got his season under way.  He ran out an impressive winner of the Grade 2 Danoli Chase at Gowran Park in early October, and he followed up by finishing second in the Grade 1 Champion Chase at Down Royal last weekend.  It’s the King George next for Margaret O’Rourke’s horse.  He remains progressive, and he deserves his shot at it.

A fantastic flat season for the Killenaule trainer, another best-ever season, was followed up by a bright start to the 2026/27 National Hunt season.  He has sent out 18 winners since the start of the 2026/27 National Hunt season, just three shy of last year’s best-ever total for the entire season.  

“We haven’t changed a thing,” says Andy.  “We just have better horses, and more of them.  We’re probably able to buy a better class of horse now, and we have great owners who are wanting to have better horses with us.”

As well as a strong core team of horses, he has a nice group of young horses, some as yet unnamed three-year-olds, and he is looking forward to getting them going too.