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The €3.6 million lottery win that led to Champion Hurdle dark horse Darver Star

Mark Boylan meets the team behind the most unlikely of Cheltenham contenders

Enthusiastic owners: Pat Cluskey, Simon Fagan and Sean Fanning pictured in the village of Darver
Enthusiastic owners: Pat Cluskey, Simon Fagan and Sean Fanning pictured in the village of DarverCredit: Patrick McCann

Something big is building in Ireland's smallest county. Come post time for Tuesday's Unibet Champion Hurdle, the excitement will be palpable across the length and breadth of Louth.

Gallant Irish Champion Hurdle runner-up Darver Star has endeared himself to local supporters with his remarkable rise over the past 12 months and now his followers in the eastern county are dreaming there could be the ultimate fairytale chapter left to write.

On the Sunday after last year's Cheltenham Festival, Gavin Cromwell's apparently modest performer was rated 104 and firmly beaten in a Wexford maiden hurdle confined to horses who had never finished in the first three before.

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