Willie Mullins was thrilled with the performance of Florida Pearl as he worked with stablemate Alexander Banquet after racing at Leopardstown. The pair, both set to take their places in the Tote Cheltenham Gold Cup field, jumped six fences before having a short gallop on the Flat.
"It was as good a bit of work as you could get. I was happy enough with Alexander Banquet and so was Barry Geraghty but Florida Pearl really took the eye on the day," Mullins said. "I think he's tremendous each-way value and that's as good as he's ever done close to Cheltenham. He's just had one or two blow-outs at home before he travelled."
Big race pilot Adrian Maguire was on board Florida Pearl and he was delighted with the horse. "I am thrilled and the horse is in tremendous order. He jumped superbly over six fences and then when we went back down to give them half a mile on the flat he really quickened and stretched away," Maguire said.
One horse missing from Mullins' schooling team this afternoon was Cheltenham Bumper fancy Alexander Milenium. He was due to have a spin but Mullins revealed a slight injury stopped him from turning out. "The horse worked super on Tuesday last but pulled a shoe yesterday and is a bit sore this morning. It's worrying at this stage, though hopefully he'll be back riding out in a couple of days," Mullins explained.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
