Flooring Porter Horse - Age, weight, trainer, owner, race record and form

Dual Stayers' Hurdle winner Flooring Porter wasn't quite able to regain his crown at the Cheltenham Festival, but an honourable second has connections dreaming of going to Aintree once more.

After a mixed bag of efforts in three starts over fences earlier in the season, connections went back over hurdles in the Cotswolds and were typically rewarded with a cracking effort from their dual Festival winner.

Flooring Porter Owner

While some of the best horses in training are often owned by one person, Flooring Porter is owned by a group of four men known as the Flooring Porter Syndicate.

The Irish horse was bought for €6,000 by Richard Rohan in December 2015 before he was gelded and returned to the Goffs National Hunt sale.

However, he was not sold after failing to reach his reserve price, before eventually being bought by Ned Fogarty, Kerril Creaven, Alan Sweeney, and his father, Tommy, for £4,300.

Flooring Porter Trainer

The quartet made the decision to send Flooring Porter to Gavin Cromwell's base at Navan in County Meath.

Cromwell started training horses back in 2005 and he has registered over 500 winners, including seven Grade 1 successes.

Flooring Porter has accounted for three of those wins at the highest level and has the potential to add to that in the coming years.

Jer's Girl was the original trailblazer for the yard, while Cromwell also bagged a Champion Hurdle with Espoir D'Allen in 2019 for leading supporter JP McManus.

Flooring Porter Age

Flooring Porter will turn 10 in May, but he could still compete at the top of the sport for years to come.

Having made eight appearances in 2019 and six in 2020, he only raced four times in 2021 and 2022, with injuries playing their part.

By contrast 2023 was very busy by his own standards, with three hurdles runs in the spring and three outing over fences from October-December illustrating his well-being.

Flooring Porter Official Rating

His most recent race victory saw him defeating the talented Broadway Boy in a Novices' Chase at Cheltenham in October 2023 and, after two more starts in Irish novices, he was rated 151 over fences.

After finishing second at Cheltenham in the Stayers' Hurdle his official rating over timber is 156. At his best he was rated 164, a perch from which he won his second Stayers' Hurdle in 2022, while his best Racing Post Rating of 168 was attained a year earlier when he beat Sire Du Berlais and Paisley Park to win the Cheltenham Championship event.

Flooring Porter Next Race

After chasing home Teahupoo in the Stayers' Hurdle on 14th March, Cromwell has indicated that Flooring Porter will have another go at the Aintree version, the Liverpool Hurdle, on 13th April.

"He's come out of Cheltenham really well and the plan is to go back to Aintree, we're really happy with him and looking forward to it," said Cromwell.

Flooring Porter Record

Cromwell's runner made his debut back in July 2019, finishing seventh at Cork in an unassuming debut under jockey Jonathan Moore.

He did not shed his maiden tag until the fifth attempt at Bellewstown, but he has delivered the goods for connections since then, rising through the handicap ranks before announcing himself on the big stage at Leopardstown in December 2020 winning the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle.

From there, he went directly to Cheltenham and led his rivals a merry dance under his by now typical front-running tactics.

Flooring Porter has raced under Rules 29 times, winning eight contests, while finishing second or third a further nine times.

Seven of those wins came over hurdles, while he has one win in three runs as a chaser.

His first major win came in the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Leopardstown in December 2020, while he won back-to-back Stayers' Hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival in 2021 and 2022. He hasn't won over hurdles since (seven runs).

Flooring Porter Prize Money

The decision to buy Flooring Porter has been a profitable one, with connections earning over £666,000 since he made his debut in 2019.

More than £317,000 of those earnings came via his back-to-back Cheltenham Festival wins.

Flooring Porter News

Though Cromwell was essentially happy with Flooring Porter in three starts over fences earlier this season, the decision was made to revert back to hurdles come Cheltenham in March.

That choice was vindicated with a silver medal at Prestbury Park, beating all bar the rising star of the division, Teahupoo.

It appears as though the future will have Flooring Porter sticking to the smaller obstacles.

"He was good over fences, but is probably better over hurdles, they certainly lit him up again," the trainer reflected on Cheltenham.

"He acts round Aintree and we're looking forward to it. A similar performance at Aintree should put him very much in the mix."