Fleur In The Park gives Andrew Slattery a Grade One first

Fleur In The Park provided his trainer Andrew Slattery and jockey Cian Quirke with a first Grade One success in an eventful renewal of the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse.

Having been beaten on each of his previous attempts at Graded company over hurdles and fences, the seven-year-old was a widely unconsidered 22-1 chance for what looked a competitive affair featuring three Willie Mullins-trained runners, two for Gordon Elliott and a British Grade One winner in Fergal O’Brien’s Sixmilebridge.

It was the latter who took the field along for much of the two-and-a-half-mile journey, but he had several challengers rounding the home turn, at which stage all eight runners were still in with a chance of victory.

Pure Steel was the first to crash out three fences from home, Predators Gold then fell at the second-last, badly hampering and virtually bringing down Western Fold, who unseated Danny Gilligan.

Jacob’s Ladder led the remaining quintet on the approach to the final fence, but Fleur In The Park soon joined him and was in front on landing, finding plenty on the run-in to prevail by two and three-quarter lengths from the staying-on Kappa Jy Pyke.

Slattery said: “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).”