‘I love this horse, but he’s quirky’: Flooring Porter scores second Stayers’ Hurdle victory

Flooring Porter has etched his name in the Cheltenham Festival history books after winning his second Stayers’ Hurdle title. The seven-year-old, ridden by Danny Mullins and trained in Ireland by Gavin Cromwell, won by two-and-three-quarter lengths, leading a competitive field from start to finish.

“I never saw the other horses, but I could hear them – everything went to plan,” said Danny. “Big credit to Gavin Cromwell – I love this horse, but he’s quirky and the way Gavin trains him is the reason we’re back here again. Gavin brought him over here [from Ireland] on Saturday to help this horse settle as he can be quite sparky.”

Gavin said: “Danny gave Flooring Porter a very cool ride – he made the running as we hoped to, jumped the third last and then filled him up and it was easy really.”

The syndicate behind Flooring Porter is made up of Ned Hogarty, who owns a flooring business in Galway, while the other members of the syndicate own a pub (and another word for beer in Ireland is ‘porter’), hence this horse’s name. They paid just €10,000 (£8,553) for the gelding four years ago after seeing a Facebook advert.

“This is a day we’ll never forget – whole parish is here; neighbours and friends. Thanks to Gavin and Danny,” said Ned, whose fellow Flooring Porter supporters lit up the racecourse with their support.

It was tight for second place in the Stayers’ Hurdle, but in the end, Thyme Hill finished second under Tom O’Brien for trainer Philip Hobbs, while previous winner of this race Paisley Park finished in third under Aidan Coleman for trainer Emma Lavelle.

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