Killycarn

That single win came at Catterick Bridge on New Year's Day 2026, and it matters more than the bare numbers suggest. Trainer Joel Parkinson, who shares the yard at High Eldwick in West Yorkshire with Sue Smith, has been candid about the plan: the hurdles career is essentially a warm-up act. Parkinson believes Killycarn is a natural chaser in the making — a horse with the speed and technique over a fence that most horses take seasons to develop, if they ever do at all. When a trainer describes a horse as a "fantastic and quick jumper" and says he cannot wait to send him over fences, that is worth paying attention to. It suggests there is a ceiling here that the hurdles game simply has not allowed him to reach.

The partnership with jockey Peter Kavanagh has been the consistent thread through his career. Together they have raced six times and won once — a win rate of around 1 in 6 — and the placed finishes suggest a horse that competes honestly without always having conditions in his favour. His recent form reads 3-2-blank-6-1-8, which captures the slightly up-and-down nature of a horse still finding his way in a division that may not fully suit him. The yard itself is in excellent shape, having sent out 42 winners already this season, so Killycarn is not short of professional support around him.

At six years old, he is approaching the age when many jump horses begin to hit their stride in earnest. The plan to switch him to fences next season is the real story here — not what he has done, but what the people closest to him believe he is capable of. Sometimes a horse's career record tells you less than the excitement of the people who see him work every morning.