Flooring Porter | Horse Racing Free Tips

Porter Floors ‘Em To Remain King Of The Stayers

CHELTENHAM, UK–Depending on your preference, Thursday at Cheltenham is either Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle day or Ryanair Chase day but either way, on St Patrick's Day each of the Irish-sponsored co-feature races produced a repeat Irish winner.

The one key difference 12 months on was that the owners of Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}) and Allaho (Fr) (No Risk At All {Fr}) were allowed on course to celebrate in person. And celebrate they did. The huge black-and-white-bedecked entourage that accompanied the dual Stayers' Hurdle winner Flooring Porter made the most of every second of the aftermath of their tough little horse's rousing victory, prompting scenes in the winner's enclosure resembling a pitch invasion as the winning jockey Danny Mullins was carried on the owners' shoulders.

It was hard not to share in their joy and marvel at the pillar-to-post success of the 7-year-old, who was given to his trainer Gavin Cromwell four years ago after failing to reach his reserve of €6,000 at the store sales. He has now won £462,000 in prize-money and, as his manner of victory showed, is clearly still full of running.

What he lacks in stature – and he was easily the smallest and slightest of the 10-runner field – Flooring Porter makes up for in heart, with a running style that lays down the gauntlet to his rivals and says 'catch me if you can'. Catch him they couldn't, even though the favourite, and Flooring Porter's conqueror last time, Klassical Dream (Fr) (Dream Well {Fr}), loomed ominously when freewheeling down the hill under a motionless Paul Townend. But Danny Mullins was sitting aboard a partner with deeper reserves, and as Flooring Porter's challengers lined up behind him, he flew the final hurdle to land spring-heeled and find another gear to boost him back up the hill for home. With Klassical Dream fading out of contention, Thyme Hill (GB) (Kayf Tara {GB) ran on for second, with the 2019 winner Paisley Park (Ire) (Oscar {Ire}) just a nose behind him in third.

“For these races you have plan A to Z, but I never came out of plan A, and that hardly ever happens,” said a beaming Mullins, whose father Tony has enjoyed a share of the limelight in recent years as the trainer of Princess Zoe (Ger).

“These championship races are what it's all about. The most special thing about it today is the reaction from the owners. They weren't here last year to enjoy it and it's very special for them. It's fantastic to hear the boys enjoy it like that, and it shows it can be done with a syndicate. You don't have to be in the elite to win at Cheltenham, and that's the magic of jump racing.”

The team of four friends that make up the Flooring Porter Syndicate ended up buying the horse after spotting a Facebook advert, and they include Ned Hogarty, who owns a flooring business in Galway. He said, “It shows you don't have to be a sheikh to win a Grade 1! We came here hopeful. The rain yesterday probably didn't play to our strengths, but it worked out. We all needed this at home. It's been strange times the last couple of years and this is a morale boost.”

Hogarty added, “If anyone had told me we wouldn't have won again [since the last Festival] until now I wouldn't have believed them. The horse was due it, we were due it, the parish was due it, and the country was due it. Hopefully we can all celebrate and drink a few pints on Paddy's Day. It's memories we'll have forever.”

A key figure responsible for helping to make those memories is Cromwell, the former farrier who took Cheltenham by storm three years ago when saddling Espoir d'Allen (Fr) to win the Champion Hurdle. Sadly the 5-year-old was never seen on a racecourse again after suffering a fatal accident in training some months later. But Cromwell has returned from that tragedy with a horse whose quirks have taken some careful management but who has stamina and verve in abundance. For good measure, between Flooring Porter's two Cheltenham victories, the versatile trainer has also enjoyed a 2-year-old group victory at Royal Ascot with Quick Suzy (Ire) (Profitable {Ire}).

“I was worried as to whether he'd get done for a turn of foot but Danny kept his cool and he knew what he was doing – he knew what he had underneath him,” said Cromwell.

“Danny is so good with these front-runners, he seems to have a serious clock in his head. It's there for everyone to see and Flooring Porter hasn't been straightforward, he's just gone with him straight away and he's just a proper horseman.”

He added, “The crowd here is just magic. It was amazing here when Espoir d'Allen won the Champion Hurdle but we came here as an outsider and he wasn't that expected. Coming here today we had one of the fancied ones and we fancied him. It all worked out, so it's fantastic.”

Allaho All Class

It wouldn't be the Cheltenham Festival, or St Patrick's Day, without a winner for Willie Mullins but the trainer had to suffer a heart-rending reversal in the opening contest, the G1 Turners Novices' Chase, when Galopin Des Champs (Fr) (Timos {Ger}) fell at the last after a superb display of galloping and jumping which had put him into an apparently unassailable position. While he lay stricken on the landing side of the final fence, the Henry de Bromhead-trained Bob Olinger (Ire) (Sholokhov {Ire}) galloped on past him, having to be urged up the hill by Rachael Blackmore for what had looked an unlikely victory for so much of the contest.

With Galopin Des Champs mercifully just winded and returning sound to the unsaddling enclosure, it wasn't long before his trainer and jockey Paul Townend were back out in front, with the imperious Allaho defending his crown and leading home a one-two for Mullins in the Ryanair Chase.

“It makes you wonder why I didn't pick him last year, doesn't it?” said Townend, who has chosen Allaho's stable-mate Min (Fr) in 2021, leaving Rachael Blackmore to land the spoils. “He gallops and jumps. He's just really, really good. We took our time learning about him, and I think we've got there now. That's what he likes to do and he's built for it, look at the size of him. I'm delighted.”

Mullins, now with five winners at Cheltenham this week, said of Allaho, “He jumped from fence to fence and came down to the last as if it wasn't there, and that is a mark of a champion. I was a nervous wreck. The horse was doing everything right for Paul then coming to the last I thought 'here we go again', but he got over it and jumped it well. Paul has nerves of steel and I'm delighted he is on our side.”

The Thompson family of Cheveley Park Stud were the leading owners at last year's Festival with three winners, and two of those, Sir Gerhard (Ire) (Jeremy) and Allaho, have now backed up in 2022. For the final day, they also have a major chance in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup with A Plus Tard (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}), who was second to his stable-mate Minella Indo (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}) 12 months ago and is currently favourite to go one better on Friday.

Though the Cheveley Park Stud colours bear the patriotic red, white and blue of Britain, where the Thompsons' Flat horses are bred and trained, the late David Thompson chose to base his select National Hunt string in Ireland, and he was well rewarded for the investment he made. Cheveley Park Stud has now been represented by nine Cheltenham Festival winners.

Britain Fights Back

Despite a fairly lacklustre performance from the British trainers at last year's Festival, this time around the honours are more even, with Ireland leading Britain by 11 winners to 10 going into the final day. Thursday's three Grade 1 contests all went to Irish stables but the remainder of the day's races fell to stables in England and Wales.

The Harry Fry-trained Love Envoi (Ire) (Westerner {Ire}) remained unbeaten when winning the G2 Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle to give jockey Jonathan Burke his first Festival victory. Dual-purpose trainer Hughie Morrison was rewarded with his first Cheltenham winner since Frenchman's Creek (GB) in 2o02 when Mouse Hamilton-Fairley's homebred Third Wind (GB) (Shirocco {Ger}) held off Alaphilippe (Ire) (Morozov) in a tight finish to the G3 Pertemps Final, while Cheltenham specialist Coole Cody (Ire) (Dubai Destination) landed the G3 Craft Irish Whiskey Plate for Welsh-based Evan Williams.

Williams's namesake, the unrelated Venetia Williams, notched her second win at this year's Festival when Chambard (Fr) (Gris De Gris {Fr}) sprang a surprise in Thursday's finale to win the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Challenge Cup in the hands of Lucy Turner at odds of 40/1.

A tip of the chapeau must go to former TDN contributor-turned-Paris restaurateur Emmanuel Roussel who was absent from Cheltenham for the first time in many years but was represented on the roll of honour as co-breeder of Chambard with André Cyprès and Antoine-Audoin Maggiar. Roussel, who also named the 10-year-old, explained that Chambard translates loosely to “a noisy mess”. His victory was thus a rather fitting way to bring the curtain down on the penultimate day of the Festival, as the record crowd of 73,754 departed Prestbury Park in varying states of inebriation to regroup for one last hurrah on Gold Cup day.

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Ireland Set Fair To Dominate Cheltenham Breeding Ranks

Whichever way you slice it, the green, white and orange of the Irish tricolour ran right through the middle of last year's Cheltenham Festival results. Some 28 races were run during the four biggest days in the jumps racing calendar, and the Irish raiding party won an unprecedented 23 of them.

This haul included the four championship prizes, as Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) won the Champion Hurdle, Put The Kettle On (Ire) (Stowaway {GB}) claimed the Champion Chase, Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}) took the Stayers' Hurdle and Minella Indo (Ire) (Beat Hollow {GB}) was victorious in the Gold Cup.

There was more soul searching than celebrating among the British contingent, as the home team won just five races. Whether matters can be turned around this year remains to be seen, but given the Irish are responsible for 23 of 28 ante-post favourites, the early signs are ominous.

For those immersed in the world of National Hunt breeding, Irish dominance is not a new phenomenon. Results over the last ten years provide a clear illustration, as there have been 276 Cheltenham Festival races run since 2012, and 151 (55 per cent) have been won by a horse bearing the IRE suffix. That is just over four times more than Britain, which has been represented by 37 winners (13 per cent) in the same time frame.

While the action on course generally revolves around Britain versus Ireland, in the breeding stakes French-breds have been a formidable presence with 80 winners (29 per cent) since 2012. The remaining eight winners were supplied by Germany and the US, who delivered four apiece.

A significant factor in these results looking so lop-sided is the sheer weight of numbers, with Irish breeders producing far more jumps horses than their British counterparts.

Data published in the latest Weatherbys Fact Book shows that in 2021, Ireland was home to 4,599 National Hunt mares, which is 31.7 per cent of the country's combined broodmare band and 3.8 times more than Britain, which had just 1,213 dedicated jumps mares, 14.8 per cent of its total broodmare population. In turn, Ireland produced 2,722 jumps-bred foals in 2021, which is 3.9 times more than the 696 youngsters born in Britain who are destined to race over obstacles.

Moreover, not only do Irish breeders have a sizeable broodmare band to call upon, but the balance of National Hunt sire power has long since been based in Ireland.

It was a notable subplot to Frankel (GB) winning the 2021 Flat sires' championship that he was the first British-based title-holder since Mill Reef, who landed the spoils back in 1987.

But you have to go even further back to find the last time the champion National Hunt sire crown left Irish soil, with Spartan General (GB) registering a rare success for Britain during the 1978-79 season. It has been one-way traffic since then, with jumps racing titans like Deep Run (GB), who notched a remarkable 14 consecutive sires' championships, Strong Gale (Ire), Be My Native, Supreme Leader (GB) and Presenting (GB) all coming to the fore for Ireland.

Although Sadler's Wells never claimed a National Hunt sires' championship to go with his record-breaking 14 Flat equivalents, the breed-shaping son of Northern Dancer has exerted a similarly huge influence over the jumping scene. Nowhere has this been more apparent than at the Cheltenham Festival.

No fewer than 23 of Sadler's Wells' sire sons have been responsible for the winners of 84 Cheltenham Festival races in the last ten years, while another 22 winners have the former Coolmore flag-bearer further back in their paternal pedigree. This means that in the last decade alone, the Sadler's Wells line has been responsible for 106 Festival winners, a huge 38.4 per cent of the 276 races run.

No stallion has done more to extend Sadler's Wells' influence over the jumping sphere than King's Theatre (Ire), who claimed five sires' championships and also supplied 12 Festival winners in the last decade, a tally that makes him the most prolific Cheltenham sire of recent times. The late Ballylinch Stud resident's Festival roll of honour includes the likes of Brindisi Breeze (Ire), Champ (Ire), Cue Card (GB), Riverside Theatre (GB) and The New One (Ire).

Among the other successful sons of Sadler's Wells are names such as Milan (GB), source of seven Cheltenham winners since 2012 and the 2019-20 champion, Oscar (Ire), sire of ten Festival scorers, and Glenview Stud's Sholokhov (Ire), whose four successes at the meeting include recent Grade 1 winners Bob Olinger (Ire) and Shishkin (Ire).

Other noteworthy sire sons include High Chaparral (Ire) and Montjeu (Ire), who were responsible for four-time Festival scorer Altior (Ire) and dual Champion Hurdle hero Hurricane Fly (Ire) respectively, while Montjeu's son Authorized (Ire) gave us the mighty Tiger Roll (Ire).

While Sadler's Wells' influence has helped cement Ireland's position as the nucleus of National Hunt breeding, he is also responsible for a British heavyweight in Overbury Stud stalwart Kayf Tara (GB), who has sired seven Festival winners since 2012.

As if all that were not enough, Sadler's Wells' own record includes an important winner from the not too distant past, as Synchronised (Ire) claimed the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup for JP and Noreen McManus.

However, despite his ongoing influence, you need to look a little further back to find Sadler's Wells' defining achievement in National Hunt racing, as he is immortalised as the sire of Cheltenham Festival icon Istabraq (Ire), who won three consecutive Champion Hurdles from 1998 to 2000.

Galileo (Ire), heir of the Sadler's Wells empire on the Flat, also has a handful of Festival winners on his vast stud record, and is the grandsire of a further four, with sons Nathaniel (Ire), best known for supplying queen of the Turf Enable (GB), and Soldier Of Fortune (Ire) each responsible for a brace. With so many high-class sons of Galileo on jumps breeders' radars, including the likes of Coolmore's National Hunt recruits Capri (Ire), Kew Gardens (Ire), Mogul (GB) and Order Of St George (Ire), we can expect his name to appear in prominent jumps pedigrees with increasing regularity over the coming years.

There have been 232 individual winners who have struck at the last ten Festivals, and these have been supplied by 124 different stallions. The diversity among this number means that, while Sadler's Wells has been an almost ubiquitous force in recent Festival history, his line is not alone in having had a significant bearing on proceedings.

Another name more commonly associated with high-class Flat performers is Danehill, who has been represented by four successful sire sons with eight winners to their credit, namely Aussie Rules, Dansili (GB) and Duke Of Marmalade (Ire), who all have one winner apiece, as well as Castlehyde Stud's Westerner (GB), who has five.

Danehill's rags-to-riches son Danehill Dancer (Ire) also emerged as a force in the National Hunt world, primarily through the exploits of the much-missed Jeremy, whose five Festival winners include Supreme Novices' Hurdle hero Appreciate It (Ire) and Champion Bumper victor Sir Gerhard (Ire), who are back for more this year. These results have seen Danehill feature in the male line of 15 recent Festival winners.

The last decade has also seen significant success for descendants of other prominent National Hunt influences such as Alleged, Garde Royale (Ire) and Monsun (Ger). Alleged's name has appeared in the male line of 11 winners in the last ten years, with Shantou responsible for five of those and the mighty Flemensfirth having supplied another four, while Astarabad and Sir Harry Lewis also sired one winner apiece.

Garde Royale's success owes plenty to Robin Des Champs (Fr), whose ten Festival winners in the last decade include National Hunt celebrities Quevega (Fr) and Vautour (Fr). Garde Royale has also been represented by Kapgarde (Fr), sire of A Plus Tard (Fr), a past Festival winner and a strong contender for this year's Gold Cup.

As far as furthering their legacies, time may be running out for Alleged, whose breeding sons have either passed away or been retired from active duty, and Garde Royale, for whom Kapgarde is a sole representative between Britain, Ireland and France. Monsun, however, has already left his imprint on 12 Festival winners through six sire sons, and remains well represented among the European stallion ranks.

Other sire lines may have been a more plentiful source of Festival success, but Monsun can lay claim to the highest-rated Cheltenham winner in recent times thanks to Sprinter Sacre (Fr), the son of Network (Ger) who won an Arkle and two runnings of the Queen Mother Champion Chase.

The other sons of Monsun to supply a Festival winner are Arcadio (Ger), Gentlewave (Ire), Maxios (GB), Schiaparelli (Ger) and Shirocco (Ger). There were eight sons of Monsun standing across Britain and Ireland in 2021 – namely Axxos (Ger), Gentlewave, Getaway (Ger), Masterstroke, Maxios, Ocovango (GB), Schiaparelli and Vadamos (Fr) – and between them they covered 940 mares, which gives an indication of the sire line's ammunition for the years ahead.

Given that National Hunt horses have longer career cycles than their Flat counterparts, by the time most jumps stallions reach the peak of their powers plenty have either been pensioned or passed away, as evidenced by Milan being the only serving champion jumps sire at present. With so many high achievers no longer in action, breeders will be looking to Cheltenham to reveal who is capable of filling the void. Once again the Irish ranks look to hold all the aces.

Among those with a strong hand are the likes of Sadler's Wells' son Yeats (Ire), who sired four winners last year and will be represented by leading fancies Conflated (Ire), Flooring Porter (Ire), Mount Ida (Ire) and Party Central (Ire) this time around. Another member of the Sadler's Wells line with a strong team is Grange Stud's Walk In The Park (Ire), sire of past Festival scorers Douvan (Fr) and Min (Fr).

The son of Montjeu could start the week with a bang when Jonbon (Fr), a brother to Douvan who fetched a record £570,000 at the Goffs UK Yorton Sale in November 2020, lines up in the Supreme Novices' Hurdle on Tuesday. Walk In The Park will also be represented by the progressive Ginto (Fr) and Champion Bumper favourite Facile Vega (Ire), who is out of six-time Festival heroine Quevega.

Glenview Stud's Blue Bresil (Fr) could also be set for a good week, with the son of Smadoun (Fr) set to field the likes of Blue Lord (Fr), Constitution Hill (GB), Redemption Day (GB) and Royale Pagaille (Fr).

The French ranks will be typically well represented, not least by the progeny of Doctor Dino (Fr), who stands at a record fee for a jumps sire at €18,000. The Haras du Mesnil resident looks set to supply well-fancied runners such as Dinoblue (Fr), Fil Dor (Fr) and State Man (Fr), while his compatriots No Risk At All (Fr), sire of Allaho (Fr) and Epatante (Fr), and Kapgarde, source of A Plus Tard and Prengarde (Fr), could also make an impact.

There are also a host of younger names for whom a first Festival winner would mark a major milestone in their upwardly mobile careers. These include Arctic Tack Stud's Jet Away (GB), source of Ryanair Mares' Novices' Hurdle second favourite Brandy Love (Ire), Haras de la Tuilerie's Masked Marvel (GB), who is responsible for Champion Hurdle challenger Teahupoo (Fr), and Kilbarry Lodge Stud resident Diamond Boy, sire of Brown Advisory Novices' Chase fancy L'Homme Presse (Fr).

During a busy weekend of sport, Ireland were made to work hard for their 32-15 victory over England in Saturday's Six Nations contest at Twickenham, with the gloss added to the final score only inside the last six minutes. When the Cheltenham roar goes up and the countries renew their rivalry at the Festival this week, all known form suggests that matters will prove much more one-sided.

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Rachael Reigns Over Cheltenham

“Out of this world,” was how Rachael Blackmore described her week at Cheltenham so far, but it is becoming increasingly clear that the top echelon of National Hunt racing is very much her world.

The 31-year-old now leads the jockeys' table with five Festival winners in the last three days, with Jack Kennedy her closest pursuer on three. Two of her triumphs have come on horses owned by Cheveley Park Stud, which has now celebrated two winners at each of the last three Cheltenham Festivals. Wednesday's victory of Sir Gerhard (Ire) (Jeremy) in the G1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper was followed 24 hours later by the emphatic G1 Ryanair Chase triumph of Allaho (Fr) (No Risk At All {Fr}). The link between the two, apart from the owner and trainer Willie Mullins, was the brilliant, dominant riding of Blackmore, who on each horse dictated the race from the front, running her rivals ragged.

In the case of Allaho, his relentless pace started to force errors from those in pursuit of the 7-year-old, whose near-flawless jumping bought him lengths at each fence. Having dispatched his stable-mate and last year's Ryanair winner Min (Fr) (Walk In The Park {Ire}), who was eventually pulled up, he kicked into another gear for his final thrust up the hill, leaving the Joseph O'Brien-trained runner-up Fakir d'Oudairies (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) 12 lengths adrift as he sailed across the line.

Add the Cheveley Park Stud brace to Blackmore's historic Champion Hurdle success aboard Kenny Alexander's Honeysuckle (GB) (Sulamani {Ire}) on the opening day, the victory of Bob Olinger (Ire) (Sholokhov {Ire}) in the G1 Ballymore Novices' Hurdle on Wednesday and, later on Thursday the daring late run on Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) (Stowaway {Ire}) to clinch another victory for owner Alexander and trainer Henry de Bromhead in the G2 Parnell Properties Mares' Hurdle. With one day to go and some enticing rides on Friday which include another Cheveley Park Stud runner A Plus Tard (Fr) (Kapgarde {Fr}) in the G1 Well Child Cheltenham Gold Cup, it seems likely that Blackmore will end the week on top.

While she rightly dislikes references to her being a female jockey, the fact remains that her outstanding achievements will ease the way for other women following in her wake. It is not unthinkable that Blackmore will become champion jockey in Ireland—she is currently battling it out with Paul Townend—and the same goes for Hollie Doyle on the Flat in Britain this coming season. Such an idea, that two women would be so dominant in the jockey ranks, could not have been entertained even five years ago.

Typically, though, Blackmore deflects the praise to the horses who have carried her to her lofty position. Commenting on the 7-year-old Allaho, she said, “For a jockey, when you're getting legged-up on these kind of horses for Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead, they just know their job, it's fantastic.

“He was just jumping and travelling. He's just a real galloper and that's how I rode him. It was either going to work, or it wasn't, and look, it worked. It was only when I came back in and people were saying that we went some gallop, but he felt in his comfort zone everywhere. It was fantastic.”

The last few months have brought a mixture of sadness and angst for those connected to Cheveley Park Stud. On Dec. 29, the organisation lost its patriarch David Thompson, who acquired the historic stud with his wife Patricia back in 1975. Though more readily associated with the Flat over more than four decades, it was Thompson's particular love of jumpers that prompted a rash of high-profile purchases in recent seasons and, though expensively procured, they have also been incredibly well selected.

The horse that was perhaps the most widely expected to secure his third successive Cheltenham Festival victory coming into this week was Envoi Allen (Fr) (Muhtathir {GB}), who was sent off as 4/9 on for the G1 Marsh Novices' Chase but fell at the fourth fence under Jack Kennedy. The 7-year-old was one of eight horses moved by Cheveley Park Stud in the wake of the publication of the controversial Gordon Elliott photograph, as was Sir Gerhard. Such a decision, with just two weeks to those horses' main targets of the season, would not have been an easy one to make and will undoubtedly have caused much consternation for the owners, who also have the unbeaten Quilixios (GB) (Maxios {GB}) as second-favourite for Friday's G1 JCB Triumph Hurdle.

Reflecting on her association with Cheveley Park Stud, Blackmore said, “It was a disappointing start to the day for [the Thompson family], but look Envoi Allen is up and he is okay, and so is Jack, and that's the main thing. They will live to fight another day. I'm very grateful to them for being so supportive of me and giving me the opportunities on their horses.”

Willie Mullins, who also trains last year's winner Min, added, “Allaho did everything right. The first thing I did when Rachael come back in was lift her number cloth to see if the lead bag was in there as it looked like Allaho was just carrying Rachael around there! He was just awesome. His galloping and his jumping, if you put it together I was hoping he could do that over three miles, but if he is only a two-and-a-half mile horse that will do me.”

He continued, “Watching him at home, all the time everyone has felt he is a galloper and a jumper and that you don't need to hold him up. I was sort of as gobsmacked as anyone else watching it as I fully expected the two horses in front to probably collapse coming to the third last and if they did you would have said they have gone too fast and took each other on, but that is their style of racing and that was the plan from the start and we just had to hope one of them would be good enough.”

Cromwell Floored By Success

While Willie Mullins and Henry de Bromhead been prominent this week with four winners apiece, the 17 victories for Irish-trained horses from 21 races have also been spread out among their compatriots. Gordon Elliott's stable, now under the care of Denise 'Sneezy' Foster, has had a winner each day, while Noel Meade, Paul Nolan and Paul Hennessy have also enjoyed winners. One of the most impressive performances, from another front-running ride, was that of Flooring Porter (Ire) (Yeats {Ire}), who made all, jumping exuberantly, to land the G1 Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle.

The 6-year-old's trainer Gavin Cromwell first came to wider prominence when Espoir d'Allen (Fr) won the Champion Hurdle two years ago, the spring after his Princess Yaiza (Ire) (Casamento {Ire}) provided him with a major Flat win on Arc weekend in the G2 Qatar Prix de Royallieu. Tragically, Espoir d'Allen died just months after Cheltenham following an injury to his shoulder during training. Deservedly, the softly spoken Cromwell, who started out in the racing business as a farrier, now has another exciting young hurdler on his hands.

Admitting that it was a “fairytale” to win another of the Festival's championship races, he said, “We won a Champion Hurdle a couple of years ago and it was massive. I didn't think I'd ever win a race in Cheltenham, and to come back and win a second one is fantastic.”

He added of Flooring Porter, who was unsold at €5,500 when offered for sale as a 3-year-old and is owned by a syndicate led by carpet shop owner Ned Hogarty, “We came across this fella by accident. He was a very cheap store and progressed right through the ranks. It's a bit of a fairytale, really, and just goes to show that it is possible with a cheap one. He wasn't bought expecting him to be a Grade 1 horse.”

There was a sting in the tale for jockey Jonathan Moore, who has partnered Flooring Porter in 11 of his 15 starts but stood himself down on Thursday morning having failed to recover sufficiently from a race fall on Sunday. Danny Mullins instead took the ride and recorded his first win at the Festival.

Cromwell added, “Danny gave him a smashing ride. It's very unfortunate for Johnny Moore that he couldn't ride him. Thankfully, and rightfully so, he stood himself down, and he suggested Danny would be well suited to the horse. Johnny has ridden him all along and brought him all the way to here, and it is very unfortunate for him. Hats off to Johnny, it was so unselfish and I'm very grateful to him.”

Flooring Porter completed a Grade 1 double on the day for the four-time Ascot Gold Cup winner and Castle Hyde Stud resident Yeats following the win of JP McManus's Chantry House (Ire) in the March Novices' Chase. Yeats has also been represented this week by two impressive handicap-winning mares, Heaven Help Us (Ire) and Mount Ida (Ire).

The late Whytemount Stud resident Stowaway (Ire) has also had a good week, his four winners including the Grade 1 scorers Monkfish (Ire) and Put The Kettle On (Ire), as well as Telmesomethinggirl (Ire) and The Shunter (Ire), while Kilcruit was runner-up in the G1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper and Fiddlerontheroof (Ire) was second to Monkfish.

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