Andy Slattery
The second fence in the back straight at Gowran Park, and Fleur In The Park moved into second place. Four had set out in the Danoli Champion Chase but, fully a mile from home, it was effectively down to two. Blood Destiny bowling along in front, daylight back to Fleur In The Park. Catch me if you can.
Andy Slattery looked on from the stands. He knew that he had Fleur In The Park very well going into the race, this had been his early-season target for a while, but, first run since April, he knew too that he would progress for the run. His horse was conceding 6lb and race fitness to the leader, and you really don’t want to be conceding anything to a Willie Mullins-trained rival.
Fleur In The Park jumped the fourth last fence well and closed the gap to two and a half lengths. The two horses turned at the top of the home straight, three fences in a straight line between them and the winning post. Andy Slattery’s horse moved up on the far side of the leader and jumped the third last fence just a half a length behind the leader. Rider Cian Quirke gave his horse a little squeeze, and Fleur In The Park moved on and picked up in front at the second last.
He wasn’t great at the obstacle, he clipped the top of it and lost a little bit of momentum. Quickly back on an even keel, his rider got a little lower in the saddle and Fleur In The Park moved away from his rival. Horse and rider saw a stride at the final fence, they pinged it and that settled it. Andy Slattery exhaled. They cleared away up the run-in and won by six and a half lengths.
“The only pressure going into the race came from ourselves,” says the trainer now. “Fleur In The Park is owned by Margaret and Padraig O’Rourke, and Padraig hadn’t been well. They are closely connected to Gowran Park, so we wanted the horse to win for him.”
It is over three years ago now that the owners told Andy that they wanted to buy a good horse.
“We always knew that he was a nice horse, ever since we bought him as a yearling. He wasn’t expensive, he wasn’t that correct. That was why we were able to buy him. The farrier did a great job with him He has a lovely pedigree, he’s by Walk In The Park out of Fleur D’Ainay, a Grade 1 winner in France.”
They decided to keep the young Walk In The Park gelding to bumpers instead of going down the point-to-point route with him. That was an important decision. He won his bumper at Roscommon on his racecourse debut in the autumn of 2023, and kicked on. He won his maiden hurdle too on his hurdling bow, at Wexford in the autumn of 2024.
He kept good company over hurdles. He was only just caught by The Yellow Clay in the Grade 2 Navan Novice Hurdle, he finished third behind Albert Bartlett Hurdle winner Jasmin De Vaux in the Grade 1 three-mile novices’ hurdle at the 2025 Punchestown Festival.
“We never got too serious with him in bumpers or over hurdles,” says Andy. “We just got him fit and allowed him get there in his own time. That’s the way we like to do things. He’s a big horse, he’s over 16.2hh. We didn’t want to bully him. We always thought that he would be a better chaser. The only time we got serious with him was during the build-up to the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse last April.”
That was some day, WillowWarm Gold Cup day at the Irish Grand National meeting last spring, Andy Slattery’s first Grade 1 win as a trainer.
“We brought him to The Curragh two weeks before Fairyhouse, and he went great. We were hopeful going to Fairyhouse, but to win it was unbelievable. It was a brilliant day. Surreal.”
That was up there with his best days in racing, and there have been many, like the day, in July 2016, that Creggs Pipes won the Colm Quinn BMW Mile at Galway, or the day that she won the Group 2 Lanwades Stud Stakes at The Curragh. Or that day in August this year, when Loughrea won the Irish Cambridgeshire.
A man for all seasons, Loughrea is one of the gems in a phenomenal 2026 flat season for the Killenaule trainer. He has had 43 winners so far on the flat this year, 11 more than he had last year, and we haven’t got to the end of the season yet. He has amassed more prize money for his owners than he did in the entire of last season, and last season was his best ever.
It's a similar story with his National Hunt team. He has 16 winners this season so far, just five off his total for all of last season, another best-ever, and this season is only getting going.
“We’ve just built it up gradually. We have our system here, and it works. Horses are never over-worked. They get themselves fit by themselves, and they enjoy it. The lads enjoy it.”
Andy spent most of his career as a rider with Edward O’Grady. Sound Man was there at the time. Ventana Canyon, Time For A Run, Mucklemeg. He rode 25 winners, but he always had an eye on going training.
“We had 32 acres and seven stables at home in the beginning,” he says, “and we had six bumper winners out of those seven stables the first year. My brother and I bought a few breeze-up horses and sold them on, and we went from there.”
That was the model. As much trading as training. Even when you knew that you had a good one, you had to sell him on. Faugheen was a good one. Cooldine, Monksland, Quel Esprit, all good, all for sale. They all came and went. Needs must. As time went on, Andy got to keep some of them himself.
“We got a few quid together and changed a few things, invested in the place. Upgraded the facilities, extended the gallops. More owners wanted to have horses with us, which led to a better class of horse, better results, and more owners wanting to have horses with us. We’re very lucky to have some great owners and a great team of people here.”
Fleur In The Park could go to Down Royal next at the end of this month, for either the Champion Chase or the intermediate chase, or he could wait for the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown next month. And the King George VI Chase at Kempton on St Stephen’s Day is on his medium-term radar.
“He seems to be equally good over two and a half miles and three miles,” says his trainer. “He settles well, but he has pace. Cian says that he’s a faster horse this year. He’ll be entered in them all, and we’ll decide what route to go closer to the time.”
More important decisions ahead.
© The Sunday Times, 11th October 2026
Back