'The best days of my life' - Flooring Porter owners revel in festival glory

Flooring Porter is the new Big Buck's and can emulate the best staying hurdler of all time by winning at four Cheltenham Festivals – that is the view of Ned Hogarty, one of the four members of the eccentric syndicate who lit up day three of the festival.

Hogarty is the flooring part of the Flooring Porter Syndicate, and owns the staying star alongside former publican Tommy Sweeney, Tommy's son Alan and brother in-law Kerrill Creaven. The quartet have unearthed an absolute gem and are already eyeing up a third Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle – and a fourth, in fact.

"He's the new Big Buck's! That's what I'm telling everyone and I think he can do what Big Buck's did," a typically upbeat Hogarty said on Sunday.

Party time after Flooring Porter sends black and white army into ecstasy

"He's just unreal and we had to silence a few doubters on Thursday. There was nobody there when he won last year, then he was pulled up at Punchestown and he fell at Navan. I told Danny [Mullins] before he went out that we wanted numbers next to his name, not letters!"

Flooring Porter's large fanbase celebrate Stayers' Hurdle successCredit: John Grossick (racingpost.com/photos)

There is now a number next to his name. It's a one and seldom has a victory been celebrated so wildly at the festival. Hogarty said: "I have three beautiful children, but Thursday was definitely the best day of my life. It was incredible.

"We went back to the Holiday Inn in the town on Thursday night and took a big gang there. They hadn't seen anything like it before and won't again until we come back next March! It was a night we will never forget."

The celebrations didn't stop there either.

"We came back to Joe's in Ballinasloe on Friday and the publican there told us he hadn't seen scenes like it since Italia '90! I'm only 39 and won't be 40 until May, but I've already had my two hips replaced. These have been the best few days of my life. I'll never forget them."

There were rumours circulating that the syndicate had won the best part of a million quid on the Gavin Cromwell-trained Flooring Porter.

"I doubt that! We had a few quid on all right, but we definitely didn't win a million!" said Hogarty.

Flooring Porter: will bid to complete a Stayers' Hurdle hat-trick in 2023Credit: Mark Cranham (racingpost.com/photos)

"We were confident beforehand as that was a monstrous performance he'd put in at Leopardstown behind Klassical Dream. Things didn't go his way there but he still ran a monstrous race and we knew he was in brilliant form going into the race."

Asked whether the celebrations had calmed down yet, Hogarty replied: "I'm here putting my clothes into the washing machine and doing all my washing. It doesn't take long for life to return to normal, does it?"

When put to Hogarty that he might need to wash the shirt he wore on Thursday twice, he replied: "Wash it? I'm framing it."

Hogarty also hopes the success of Flooring Porter - bought as a foal for €6,000 and then said to have found his way to his current owners for €5,000 via a Facebook advert - can be the catalyst for syndicates to be in fashion again.

He said: "It's amazing to see what Flooring Porter has done for the four of us. He's shown that syndicates can have success on the biggest stage of all and you don't need to be a multimillionaire to own a racehorse. And, you know what, the craic is mighty too!"

It certainly seems to be. All roads are leading back to Cheltenham for the 2023 Paddy Power Stayers' Hurdle and edging another step closer to the record of four wins in the race by Big Buck's. Flooring Porter is the ante-post market leader and as short as 4-1 to complete the hat-trick with Unibet.

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