Flame Bearer comes of age but Elliott devastated after young star Mighty Potter suffers fatal fall

It was fitting that Flame Bearer won the newly named WillowWarm Gold Cup, given the sponsors produce an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional fuel briquettes, but the tragic death of Mighty Potter put a real dampener on the day. 

Still only six but already a four-time Grade 1 winner, Mighty Potter was being talked up as a potential Gold Cup winner, but we will never find out as he suffered a fatal fall at the tenth fence. 

"That's the game we're in, isn't it? You've got to keep your head up and keep going," said a philosophical but clearly devastated Gordon Elliott afterwards. 

The trainer went on to pay tribute to Mighty Potter, saying: "I loved him to bits. Everything about him oozed class and the day he won the Drinmore was very special. The sad thing is there was so much more to come as well. He was only a baby, a six-year-old, and we were mad looking forward to stepping him up in trip next year and seeing if he was a Gold Cup horse. But, as I said, that's the game and you have to keep your head up."

The Mighty Potter: "I loved him to bits" said Gordon Elliott after star suffered fatal fallCredit: Alan Crowhurst

With such a sad postscript, it is easy to forget the winner and indeed his trainer Willie Mullins, who broke yet another record. His eight winners across the cards at Cork and Fairyhouse beat his previous best of seven at Christmas and will certainly help ease the pain of a recent hip operation from which he is currently recovering. 

What is it about Flame Bearer and Fairyhouse? This was his fourth visit and his fourth win. He made all and made plenty of mistakes but he found just enough in the closing stages to fend off stablemates Sir Gerhard and Appreciate It in what turned out to be a 1-2-3-4-5-6 for Mullins. Only six of the eight who started managed to finish and the champion trainer was responsible for them all. 

"Flame Bearer is a decent horse but he probably wouldn't have been my first choice," admitted assistant trainer David Casey. "I thought what he did at Thurles the last day was very good. He bucked out, jumped well, went a gallop and kept at it. If you have those novices jumping well in front it's a huge help. 

"That's the way to ride him. Sean [O'Keeffe] went at it, went a good gallop and he jumped great. He got into a lovely rhythm and he did it well. The horse is learning himself and improving with the experience."

Could he be a Ryanair contender next season? “Hopefully, why not? We'll aim for the stars. That's the route you'd have to be looking anyway," Casey replied. 

Appreciate It continued his disappointing second half of the season and could manage only third after being hampered by the fall of Mighty Potter. Casey, who rides him out every day at home, said: "Paul [Townend] said he might have been a little bit flat after Cheltenham. He nearly got brought down as well but he said that didn't make a lot of difference.”

It was a second Grade 1 for O'Keeffe, whose previous success at the top level was on The Nice Guy in last year's Albert Bartlett at the Cheltenham Festival. "It's what you dream of as a jockey, winning Grade 1s on big days like this and the horse was very tough. He was brilliant," the jockey said with a smile that might last until we see Flame Bearer again. 

He added: "The plan was to let him be positive and let him get into his rhythm. He doesn't like to get interfered with and I just have to get a couple of breathers into him just to hold on to enough. In fairness, he stuck his head out and dug in deep for me."

Paddy Power went 25-1 about Flame Bearer for the 2024 Ryanair Chase. This was the day he came of age as a chaser but it was also the day we lost one of the brightest prospects in the sport. It is a glorious game, but it can be a cruel one too.

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