Flooring Porter won the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle for the second successive season under a brilliant Danny Mullins ride.
Given an uncontested lead with Paul Townend holding up Klassical Dream, he was travelling strongly turning for home as one-by-one his rivals came off the bridle.
Fluent at the last, the 4/1 winner was gone and powered to the line to beat Thyme Hill (11/2) and Paisley Park (17/2) by two-and-a-three-quarter lengths and a nose.
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Mullins told ITV Racing: “Everything went to plan. Big credit has to go to Gavin Cromwell – I love the horse but he’s quirky. His training is the reason we’re back here today again, Gavin’s done a fantastic job with this lad all year.
“I wasn’t too worried about the preliminaries, the more he gets into the season, the less gas is in his system. Gavin brought him over a few days early, he was a little bubbly one or two mornings but this morning we were very happy with him. He was relaxed and showing a spark again. It’s funny going into a race at Cheltenham with such confidence in the horse, but we believed in him.”
Cromwell said: “The plan was to make it, but of course he has the issues with the start. We wanted to make the running and he was foot perfect everywhere. Danny was fantastic on him, when he jumped the third last he eased off and let him fill up, but to be honest I was worried he might get done for a turn of foot. Danny was cool though and knew what he was doing.
“I wasn’t too bad when he was down at the start as I was pretty confident he was going to be OK today, he seems to have matured and he’s behaved himself all the time he’s been here.
“At Leopardstown (at Christmas) Klassical Dream got a flyer and we didn’t, and it made the difference – he was beaten just over two lengths. We didn’t want the same to happen in this race.”
Cromwell hailed Mullins’ ride, adding: “Danny is so good on front- runners, he has a serious clock in his head. He maybe did get an easier lead this year, whether they might not have felt he was as good as he was, I don’t know. His jumping is unbelievable, he jumps more like a champion hurdler, he’s so slick, long or short, he gains ground at every hurdle.
“Last year was great but the crowd here is magic. I came here and won the Champion Hurdle with Espoir D’allen but he was an outsider. To win a big race with a fancied horse was brilliant, it all worked out. We’ll try to get him back here next year.”
Timeform view - David Cleary
Flooring Porter made it back-to-back wins in the Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle, scoring much as he had in 2021, making all under a really well-judged ride from Danny Mullins, sitting cosy in front and kicking when he wanted. The form looks slightly stronger than last season's, with the best of the British staying hurdlers filling the frame behind him, though the run of things was very much his.
The start was significant, Flooring Porter away best and able to maintain an uncontested lead; Klassical Dream, who had beaten him from the front at Leopardstown at Christmas, playing up and having to be held up. With the field still well grouped two out, Klassical Dream loomed up as a danger, but once Paul Townend was required to do more than soft coaxing Klassical Dream didn't pick up, losing three places after the last.
Paisley Park took a long time to respond to pressure, having been off the bridle a mile out, a stride off taking second from old rival Thyme Hill, another he'd met before Champ a creditable fourth. A rematch between this trio at Aintree would be a hard one to call. As for Flooring Porter, he was pulled up at Punchestown last spring, so there's a record to put straight for him there.
