NOT many people get to say they have an All Ireland-winning medal and have led in a Cheltenham Festival winner but that is exactly what Caragh Monaghan can proclaim after this week.

The 19-year-old plays her club football with Seneschalstown and was on the Meath senior panel that memorably secured the All Ireland senior ladies football championship in Croke Park last September, but she says the feeling of leading in Flooring Porter after his second Stayers’ Hurdle success topped that experience. “Don’t get me wrong, winning an All Ireland was unforgettable and if I could relive that day, I would, but I’d say Thursday topped it,” she told The Irish Field.

“Watching the All Ireland was one of the hardest hours I had watching football, it was horrible. Watching the Stayers’ Hurdle was only five minutes but it was horrible as well! But that feeling when he won, running down to him and then leading him and Danny back in, it was unreal. It was an amazing buzz.”

Flooring Porter’s quirks are well known at this stage and most of the chat on the preview circuit was how he’d handle the preliminaries on Thursday in the hustle and bustle of a packed Cheltenham, especially given his win last year came behind closed doors. However, Monaghan reported that everything went very smoothly for the seven-year-old who arrived in Cheltenham last Saturday to give him extra time to settle.

“When he first came here, we took him out for a hack and he was absolutely fine - not jig-jogging or anything,” she said. “The first time Danny rode him, he was fine and he actually got more settled as the week went on.

“The one thing I was worried about was how he’d react to the roar from the crowd when the Ryanair was on, because he was in the pre-parade ring at that stage but he was absolutely fine. During the race, Danny was just brilliant on him, he got everything spot on.

“I think he has matured a lot this year. Paddy McGrath rides him mostly and he’s done a great job with him. Gavin has kept him sweet and happy. Everyone knows he’s not the quickest of horses but by god he can gallop them into the ground if he doesn’t blow up.”

The celebrations afterwards by the Flooring Porter syndicate will be Cheltenham Festival folklore for years to come but all the ‘lepping’ around didn’t even perturb their pride and joy.

“He was just stood there still, very proud of himself,” Monaghan says. “The lads who own him are just lovely people and I couldn’t believe the fan club they brought over and all the people in the crowd who were cheering him. It was unreal.”