One more hurdle to clear for jumps racing poster boy Andy Win
For an owner with an association with horse racing as long and successful as Shane Dyson, few things should come as a surprise.
Yet even Dyson would have struggled to predict the astronomical rise in 2026 of jumps racing’s new poster boy, Andy Win.
The Shane Jackson-trained six-year-old is now the name on every jumps fan’s lips after progressing from maiden hurdle success at Warrnambool’s May Carnival to winning the $350,000 Grand National Steeplechase (4500m) in the space of just three months.
For part-owner Dyson, it has added a remarkable chapter to his ownership journey which began more than three decades ago.
“I’ve been in it since ’92,” he said.
“I know Terry Henderson from OTI really well and he was a board member of our business for 40 years, he was the catalyst of it.
“I’ve always been interested in horses and particularly jumps because of my cousin who has passed away now, his name was ‘jumps John’.
“He was right into jumps racing and was actually the secretary of the Australian Jumps Racing Association for years and years with Eric Musgrove.”
Shane, a long-time director of family-founded bus and coach transport company Dysons, races Andy Win as part of the Four Brothers syndicate alongside his brothers Jamie, Richard and Robert.
They have enjoyed incredible success together owning both jumps and flat horses, none better than I’m Thunderstruck who famously carried the OTI colours to two Group 1 wins and ran second to Anamoe in the 2022 Cox Plate (2040m).
Their OTI connection came to fore when Terry Henderson, having previously purchased Andy Win out of New Zealand before sending the son of Almanzor to Mick Price and Michael Kent (Jnr), was on the hunt for new owners following five flat runs in Australia without success.
“He was a wet tracker and could stay all day. Yeah, it turned out that he just didn’t have the ability to get any faster, he stayed the same pace all along,” Dyson said.
“Terry went and took him down to Shane Jackson and then once Shane said he could jump, there was a lot of OTI owners who didn’t want to have jumpers.
“Ironically, you’ll see that the other owners in Andy Win includes the Buffto’s First Kiss syndicate.
“Well, that’s my sons and nephews. They’ve got their own syndicate, and they ended up getting involved in Andy Win as well.”
It was the Buffto’s First Kiss syndicate who recommended Shane Jackson permanently train their new acquisition, given their existing relationship with the trainer who prepares their other jumper, Highland Blaze.
The Dyson clan are Warrnambool May Carnival devotees and make the pilgrimage annually, often with a runner representing one of their syndicates.
It was only fitting that Andy Win chose the famous Carnival to break his maiden and kickstart his run of success earlier this year.
“Yeah, we go every year, we’ve had a bit of luck down there too,” Dyson said.
“They have Highland Blaze. We had another good jumper, Bit Of A Lad, and he won the Brierly a few years ago.
“So, we’ve been sort of a bit lucky in the jumps with Bit Of A Lad, Highland Blaze and now Andy Win.”
Following Warrnambool, the Dysons buses progressively grew fuller with family and supporters at each of his five hurdle starts as Andy Win took all before him, including a strong win in the Grand National Hurdle (4200m) at Sandown on August 2.
While few horses progress to steeple chasing in their first jumps preparation, Andy Win is no ordinary jumper and his dominant performance in the Grand National Steeplechase put an exclamation mark on a remarkable debut season.
“[Shane Jackson] said ‘well, I put him over the steeples the other week and he can handle them as good as gold in a trial’,” Dyson said.
“As it turned out, it was ideal for him as they go a bit slower.”
For Shane Dyson and his extended family, the end of the jumps season has provided an opportunity to reflect ahead of what could be a defining 2027 campaign for Andy Win.
“We couldn’t believe what we got him for and what he’s won since, it’s unreal,” he said.
“I think as Shane said, he’d be battling to win a 58, 62 rater on the flat, and here he is, jumps is his career now.”
Andy Win is currently enjoying a well-deserved break ahead of the 2027 jumps season. His ownership group are patiently waiting as they eye the one jumps prize that has eluded them thus far.
“He thinks he’ll just leave him and give him a good spell now and then get him prepped up and he’ll go for the Grand Annual at Warrnambool,” Dyson said.
“That’s on the bucket list, mate.”
