Park Of Kings

The best of those wins came at Gowran Park in October 2024, and it represents the high-water mark of what this horse has shown so far. The problem is that it now sits 19 months in the past. The last six races have brought two finishes down in ninth and twelfth place, and two more in the teens — form that suggests Park of Kings is either out of sorts or has simply found the competition a step too stiff of late. Racing just one day ago, the horse is clearly still being campaigned actively, which means the team around it at Paul Nolan's yard in Enniscorthy, Co. Wexford, still believe there is a race to be won somewhere.

Nolan's yard has sent out 25 winners this season, so this is not an operation scraping by — they know what a horse in form looks like, and they are clearly patient enough to keep running Park of Kings in search of the right opportunity. The most interesting thread in this horse's story is its partnership with jockey Mark Walsh. In nine races together, Walsh has ridden Park of Kings to all three of its career wins — a win rate of 33%, or 1 in every 3 rides. That is a striking number. For context, most jockey-and-horse combinations at this level win nowhere near that often. Whether Walsh brings out something in this horse, or simply tends to be booked when conditions suit, is hard to say — but when those two line up together, it is worth paying attention.

The question now is whether Park of Kings has another win left in it. The recent form is discouraging, and 19 months is a long time to wait for a horse to rediscover its best. But with an active campaign still ongoing and a jockey who has a remarkable record aboard it, it would be premature to write this one off entirely.