The £5,000 bargain bought from JP McManus who is taking on Paisley Park and co in the Long Distance Hurdle on Friday

Trainer Deborah Cole describes it as a “dream come true” to be taking aim at Grade 2 company with bargain buy Flight Deck in the Coral Long Distance Hurdle at Newbury on Friday.

The nine-year-old was a five-time winner for JP McManus and Jonjo O’Neill before being sold for just £5,000 at the Tattersalls Ascot June sale this summer.

Flight Deck’s debut for Cole suggested the four-figure outlay was money well spent, with Chris Ward’s mount defying odds of 66-1 to finish third in a Pertemps qualifier at Cheltenham’s meeting in October.

More will undoubtedly be required at Newbury, where Grade 1 winners Marie’s Rock, Paisley Park and Dashel Drasher could be in opposition, but with prize-money down to sixth and only six entries, connections felt it was worth a shot.

Cole, who has 17 horses and nine in training at her Warwickshire stable, said: “We were amazed with his run at Cheltenham, it was hard to know what to expect going there but we were thrilled with him. We’re only a little stable so to walk back into the winner’s enclosure there was incredible.

“He looks like a real bargain. He’s had his problems in the past and has his little quirks, but he’s a happy horse and has been suited by a change of environment.

“We had a little think after Cheltenham as it’s hard to find races for horses with his rating, and these bigger races seem to be getting small fields, so why not have a go?

“He’s very well, there’s prize-money down to sixth and the owners will have a nice day. It’s a little bit daunting taking on some of the big guns but we’re happy to take our chance. It’s a massive day for us and a dream come true to contest such a big race.”

Deborah Cole (right): trainer of Flight DeckCredit: X: @GrahamClark85

Cole trains in Knowle, a village just outside Solihull, having moved to the West Midlands to restart her training career under rules in 2021 following a 20-year absence, a period during which she went down some different career paths. Her first winner back was Hauraki Gulf, who landed a bumper on his debut at 50-1 at Warwick in December that year.

She said: “I trained down on Exmoor and had a lot of point-to-point winners, and took out my rules licence for about four years before handing it in for personal reasons.

“I went off and managed hotels and trained to be a professional chef – I needed to do something very different at the time and did all sorts – but you can’t shake off the racing bug.

“I’ve lived on Exmoor for 90 per cent of my life so it was a big move and a lot of upheaval to relocate to near Solihull a couple of years ago but it’s been really worth it.”

Coral Long Distance Hurdle (3.00 Newbury, Friday)

Coral: 10-11 Marie's Rock, 3 Paisley Park, Dashel Drasher, 12 Hugos New Horse, 25 Flight Deck, Mahons Glory

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