Duke Silver

O'Brien trains out of Owning Hill in County Kilkenny and has sent out 160 winners already this season — that is the kind of operation where horses are placed carefully and expectations are managed well. Duke Silver has clearly found a niche within it. His first career win came at Wexford in October 2024, and his most recent — and arguably most significant — came at Leopardstown on 28 December 2025. Leopardstown at Christmas is one of Irish racing's great occasions, a track that draws serious horses and serious crowds. Winning there means something. It is not a race that flatters average horses.

That Leopardstown win came six months ago, and the recent form since has been mixed — a sixth, a seventh, a pulled-up run, a twelfth, and a third, with the most recent run coming just yesterday. The sequence reads like a horse who found a peak and is now searching for it again, which is not unusual. Not every horse can sustain their best form indefinitely, and the fact that the team keeps running him suggests they believe another good day is in him.

Regular partner J J Slevin has ridden Duke Silver in 10 of his 24 races, winning once together — the same Leopardstown victory that stands as the highlight of the horse's career. That shared moment matters. Jockey and horse combinations that have tasted success together at a good track tend to get given opportunities to repeat it. At six years old, Duke Silver is in the middle years of a jumps career, experienced enough to know what he is doing but not yet at the stage where the yard start thinking about what comes next. There is still time for another good day.