Fleur In The Park (22/1) was a surprise winner in Sunday's WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse.
The two and a half-mile Grade 1 contest saw a field of eight go to post after Kala Conti's withdrawal and the Andrew Slattery-trained winner was the outsider of the party at 22/1 under jockey Cian Quirke.
He had finished a well-held fifth of six in a Grade 3 at Thurles last month but, having been waited with in rear for much of the contest, came through late to grab the spoils from Willie Mullins-trained pair Kappa Jy Pyke (11/4 joint-favourite) and Jimmy Du Seuil (8/1) who had to settle for second and third respectively. The winning margin was two and three-quarter lengths and three and three-quarter lengths.
Fergal O'Brien's Sixmilebridge (the other joint-favourite) cut out the early running but a series of fiddly jumping errors ultimately caught up with him as the chasing pack closed up at the third-last fence, which Pure Steel got all wrong and unseated Mark Walsh.
Jimmy Du Seuil went on, pressed by Jacob's Ladder and Predator's Gold under Paul Townend on the outside but when the latter fell and brought down Western Fold in the process, the door was left ajar for Fleur In The Park who looked to nip up the inside of his rivals approaching the last.
Jacob's Ladder cut across, forcing the eventual winner to switch, but he found plenty after a big leap at the final fence to record a memorable victory for his connections.
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Slattery said on Irishracing.com: “It’s great. This is my biggest day by a mile. I had a Group Two winner on the Flat (Creggs Pipes, 2017 Lanwades Stud Stakes). We’ve got a Grade One over jumps now and we’ll try to get a Group One on the Flat!”
He added: “We’ve sold a lot of Grade One horses through the years, we bought this horse as a foal and he was second in a Grade Two over hurdles, but we always thought he’d be a better chaser.
“He was unlucky to get beaten at Punchestown in a Grade Two and he got injured that day and was standing in a stable for a month. When he ran in Thurles he was only back on the go about six weeks and badly needed the run.
“We knew coming today that we had him as good as we could get him. I told the owners he won’t be out of the three. These moments don’t come too often and we’ll go to Punchestown now for the three-mile-one (Grade One novice chase).”
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