Local triumph in Cheltenham as Flooring Porter sinks opposition

There was joy unconfined in South Roscommon after Flooring Porter won the Stayers’ Hurdle in Cheltenham this afternoon.

The horse is owned by a syndicate consisting of Ned Hogarty, father and son duo Tommy and Alan Sweeney, along with Kerril Creaven (Alan’s uncle).

Alan and Kerril previously ran The Countryman pub in Creagh and with the Hogarty family running a flooring and DIY business, Ned quipped that “the name was conceived” by combining flooring with a few pints of porter.

Another link to the publican trade is that the Sweeney family previously ran The Birchgrove Bar on the Athlone Road near Ballinasloe.

The Hogarty business is located very close to Padraig Pearses GAA grounds in Woodmount. All of the quartet have been associated with Pearses in some capacity, with Alan’s brother Shane managing the Pearses hurlers to win the Roscommon senior title last year.

Flooring Porter, trained by Gavin Cromwell, led from the off under Danny Mullins, who picked up a spare ride after injury ruled out regular rider Jonathan Moore this morning. In a brilliant front-running ride, Mullins poured on the pace at various intervals to leave the challengers trailing in its wake.

The 12/1 shot was carrying not only the hopes of the local owners but a lot of money from the wider Ballinasloe/South Roscommon/Athlone area.

Speaking on ITV afterwards, jockey Mullins paid tribute to the regular rider Moore, saying: “That's the man that's done all the work and the team at Cromwells.”