Fleur In The Park set for targeted campaign after Grade 1 success
Trainer Andy Slattery has sketched out a campaign for Fleur In The Park that centres on major targets in both the autumn and spring, as the gelding steps up from a productive novice season over fences.
From novice chases to Grade 1 company
The son of Walk In The Park is owned by Margaret O’Rourke and enjoyed a notable end to his novice season. He took the WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse during the Easter festival and subsequently finished second to Western Fold in the three-mile Champion Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival.
Those performances have propelled Fleur In The Park into plans that include top-level assignments through the winter and into the spring festival period. Slattery has identified a sequence of high-profile staying chases as the yard’s intended targets.
Planned route and race pattern
The campaign mapped out for Fleur In The Park is built around a familiar pattern for staying chasers: a scheduling of races before and after Christmas to keep the horse primed for the spring major festivals.
- Initial autumn target: PWC Champion Chase at Gowran Park.
- Mid-season Grade 1 option: Clonmel Oil or the BetVictor Grade 1 Champion Chase at Down Royal.
- Overall programme: approximately six starts across the season, split into three runs before Christmas and three runs after.
This approach gives the stable flexibility to tune the horse’s preparation around form and fitness, while aiming to have Fleur In The Park at his best for the peak contests later in the season.
Festival implications
With plans that include the PWC Champion Chase at Gowran and potential entries at Clonmel or Down Royal, Fleur In The Park is being prepared with the Irish festival calendar very much in mind. Those venues frequently act as key stepping stones for horses targeting the Cheltenham and Punchestown festivals, as well as standalone Grade 1 honours in Ireland.
Racegoers and followers of staying chases will be watching his progress through the autumn fixtures to see how he shapes up against established stayers and other up-and-coming novice graduates. The decision to space runs either side of Christmas follows a common preparation pattern designed to maintain a progressive sequence of fitness and peak form.
Context within the division
Fleur In The Park’s placed effort in the Grade 1 Champion Novice Chase at Punchestown confirmed he can compete at the highest level over extended distances. That form gives his connections scope to target top-tier staying chases this season rather than restricting plans to intermediate Grade races.
His sire, Walk In The Park, has been influential in producing horses with staying aptitude, and Fleur In The Park’s profile fits the type that often improves with experience over fences. If he progresses as hoped, he will be a contender for the major domestic staying contests and could be a prominent name on the Irish staying-chase scene through the winter and spring.
What to expect next
Owners and the stable are likely to finalise specific entries and ground selections in the coming weeks as the autumn fixture list approaches. Early-season performances will be important in shaping the exact route, but the broad plan of a six-run campaign split around Christmas offers a clear framework for his preparation.
For racegoers and festival followers, Fleur In The Park is a horse to note among the staying chasers as the new National Hunt season unfolds.
