"I don't really care what he thinks or says - he's single-handedly managing to destroy NZ First.''
He said last year he would have "taken a bullet for him, but now I would gladly step aside''.
"The latest poll [for NZ First] is 2 per cent - so why would I care what he said?''
Speaking today at the New Zealand First annual conference in Christchurch, Mr Peters said he knew the matter would end as it apparently had.
"When you threaten to eat up all the estate in a legal wrangle so there's nothing to be fighting over in the end, that's the likely outcome. I knew that was going to happen some time back,'' he said.
Asked whether he stood by his decision to kick Mr Horan out of the party, Mr Peters said "utterly''.
"His mother said he was taking money off her wrongly. She put it in a codicil, that's all the evidence I need.
"But there's lots of other evidence why I acted as well.''
Mr Horan has always denied any wrongdoing and remained confident his name would be cleared.