'A night we'll never forget' - Flooring Porter and the ultimate Cheltenham party

In an extract from the 2023 Racing Post Annual, editor Nick Pulford looks back at Flooring Porter's second Stayers' Hurdle victory

St Patrick’s Day at lockdown Cheltenham was a quiet affair but it was a different story when the doors reopened at the 2022 festival. The partying was raucous and long, in the old tradition, and at the centre of it all was Stayers’ Hurdle hero Flooring Porter. His achievement in becoming the first repeat winner since Big Buck’s was well worth celebrating.

Flooring Porter has the right profile to be a folk hero. He has risen from humble origins, bought cheaply and emerging from the handicap ranks, and represents four owners who are living the dream and loving every moment. Above all, not only does their horse deliver on jump racing’s biggest stage, he does it the hard way.

In a sense Flooring Porter had to prove himself all over again in his second Stayers’ Hurdle. Having had a reputation as something of a hothead, he was aided by the absence of a heaving crowd in 2021 and nobody knew then how well his front-running style was going to work in his first test around Cheltenham. When he returned 12 months on, his form in the interim was questionable, the atmosphere was red-hot and his opponents knew what to expect.

The forces ranged against Gavin Cromwell’s stable star were formidable. The 11-4 favourite was Klassical Dream, who had won the Champion Stayers Hurdle at Punchestown the previous April and added another Grade 1 victory in the Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown.

On the first occasion Flooring Porter had been pulled up and on the second he was the two-length runner-up, although it was arguably an unsatisfactory guide given that Klassical Dream had anticipated the start and stolen six lengths from the off.

The other fancied Irish contender was Royal Kahala, who had upset the odds-on Klassical Dream in the Galmoy Hurdle at Gowran Park in January, while the British challenge revolved around old rivals Champ, Thyme Hill and Paisley Park.

They had been the first three in that order in the Long Walk Hurdle at Ascot before Christmas, while Paisley Park had reversed the form to beat Champ with an incredible run up the Cheltenham hill in the Cleeve Hurdle in January, with Thyme Hill absent then to keep him fresh for the festival.

On the big day, however, there was no stopping Flooring Porter. Danny Mullins, now his regular jockey having picked up the ride by chance the previous year, simply pressed repeat on the tactics button and challenged the rest to catch him if they could. The task was beyond them again.

Even on ground turned soft by the previous day’s rain, Flooring Porter was in his element. This time he had no problems at the start and was in front from flagfall, while in a role reversal Klassical Dream proved somewhat reluctant to line up and jumped off a little detached in last of the ten runners.

Quickly opening a four-length lead, Flooring Porter jumped superbly as Mullins clocked the fractions in his head. That effortless hurdling allowed Mullins to give him a breather before the run down the hill on the final circuit, reducing his advantage as the chasers fanned out in close pursuit.

Flooring Porter puts in a superb jump under Danny MullinsCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

If it looked like the race was on, Mullins and Flooring Porter were soon to finish it. They powered away from the second-last after another smooth jump and it was clear there was plenty left in the tank. Champ tried to challenge up the inside but was going backwards before the final flight and Klassical Dream, having made his move, was also starting to look one-paced by then.

A slight jink at the last could not halt Flooring Porter’s momentum and he never looked in any danger of being caught up the hill, coming home a decisive winner by two and three-quarter lengths. Thyme Hill and Paisley Park made gallant late runs into second and third, separated by a nose, with Champ fourth and Klassical Dream fifth.

Having walked back to a near-empty winner’s enclosure the previous year, Mullins was greeted with wildly different scenes this time. The syndicate members and their supporters – decked out in black and white scarves and said to number more than 100 – had roared Flooring Porter home and the bedlam continued as their St Patrick’s Day hero returned to thunderous acclaim.

The winner's rostrum is flooded by Flooring Porter's ecstatic connectionsCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

“It’s a dream come true,” said Ned Hogarty, one of the four owners from the County Galway town of Ballinasloe. “To be here and have a dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner is fantastic – it will never be forgotten. The horse was due it, we were due it, the parish was due it and the country was due it. Hopefully, we’ll all celebrate in comfort now and drink a few pints on Paddy’s Day.”

A few days later, Hogarty had an update on the celebrations. “We went back to the Holiday Inn in the town on Thursday night and took a big gang there. They hadn’t seen anything like it before and won’t again until we come back next March. It was a night we’ll never forget. We came back to Joe’s in Ballinasloe on Friday and the publican there told us he hadn’t seen scenes like it since Italia ’90!”

Hogarty owns a flooring business in Galway, which explains the first part of the horse’s name, and his partners are Kerril Creaven and father and son Tommy and Alan Sweeney. Creaven and Sweeney snr previously owned the Countryman pub in Creagh and the second part of the name comes from the original name for Guinness. Their black and white colours also pay homage to Ireland’s famous stout.

They teamed up to buy Flooring Porter for a reported €5,000 in response to an advert on Cromwell’s Facebook page and have seen the then unraced three-year-old become a dual Stayers’ Hurdle winner with earnings in excess of £500,000.

“It’s amazing what Flooring Porter has done for the four of us,” Hogarty said. “He’s shown that syndicates can have success on the biggest stage of all and you don’t need to be a multi-millionaire to own a racehorse. And, you know what, the craic is mighty too.”

These once-in-a-lifetime experiences have been delivered by Cromwell and Mullins, although spare a thought for Jonathan Moore, who partnered Flooring Porter in 11 of his first 14 races but was unfit for Cheltenham 2021 and passed the ride to his friend Mullins.

The new partnership continued throughout last season, culminating in another demonstration of pace-setting brilliance by Mullins.

“Danny is so good with front-runners. He seems to have a serious clock in his head and is a real horseman,” Cromwell said as he savoured the Cheltenham repeat. “Everything went perfectly to plan. We set out to make the running and Danny was fantastic on him. He jumped the third-last, then stacked them up and filled the horse up. He made it look easy.”

Mullins, who was hoisted high into the air by the winner’s huge entourage, returned the compliments to the trainer. “Gavin planned the whole season around this and brought the horse over a few days early just to allow the gas to get out of his system. He’s a top-class horse and credit to him for doing the job.”

The meticulous preparation showed at the start, where Flooring Porter was relaxed and ready, although Cromwell said he had never been worried. “He has really matured. He’s just an older and wiser horse,” he said.

Still young enough, however, for more dreams to be harboured. Like Big Buck’s, Flooring Porter has racked up two Stayers’ Hurdles by the age of seven, which raises hope of more to come. “He’s the new Big Buck’s! That’s what I’m telling everyone and I think he can do what Big Buck’s did,” the bullish Hogarty said.

Flooring Porter may be only halfway to his tally of four, but that in itself was cause for celebration.

And there's much more . . .

The Racing Post Annual 2023, priced at just £19.99, has 208 pages packed with the best stories of the year. Here are three more short extracts . . .

All-time great
In winning the International, Baaeed elevated himself from being a great horse to one of the sport’s all-time greats. In God’s own county here was God’s own horse, not the very first to be worthy of such billing but undoubtedly one whose fledgling mile-and-a-quarter mission yielded an exhibition of such outrageous brilliance that it immediately defined him for us and future generations.
Lee Mottershead

Alpinista
Walking the track before the biggest ride of his life, Luke Morris made a vow. Whatever happens in the race, he told himself, try not to get too excited in the moment. The way the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe unfolded, it was a hard promise to keep. Morris was going so well on Alpinista from a long way out that he had to remind himself to keep a lid on it.
Nick Pulford

Masterclass
To these eyes, it was the single most exquisite Gold Cup ride in recent times because of the sheer audacity of it and the level of expectation that preceded it. A Plus Tard was the 3-1 favourite, yet Rachael Blackmore executed a nerveless strategy that few would dare to even countenance. We’re inclined to think of a ride like it as high-risk but, to paraphrase Ruby Walsh, she had the gumption to ride to win rather than ride not to lose.
Richard Forristal

The Racing Post Annual 2023 is here! Look back on a star-studded year in this fabulous 208-page book packed with the best stories and pictures. The perfect gift at £19.99. Order from racingpost.com/shop or call 01933 304858 now!