FLEMENSTAR'S return to the track edged a step closer on Thursday morning when he came through his first piece of fast work with flying colours. Owner Stephen Curran has pencilled in a mid-March outing for the three-time Grade 1 winner, possibly over hurdles. The Cheltenham Festival will come too soon, but Punchestown in April could be on the cards for the ten-year-old who was last seen in November 2013 when winning the Fortria Chase at Navan. That victory was on his first start for Tony Martin having left Peter Casey, but Flemenstar then picked up a tendon injury the following month. "I was thrilled with what he did. It was his first piece of fast work and he did a nice canter. I couldn't have been happier with him," Curran said on Thursday. "We have a lot of slow work done with him and, the more work he does, the better his legs get. The next three weeks will tell us a lot. "We'll be stepping his work up another few gears and that will tell us where we are with him. He certainly doesn't look to have lost any of his enthusiasm and he seems as good as ever but only time will tell. "We'll bring him to the Curragh in three weeks for a spin and that should tell us where we stand. I would hope he would be back on a racecourse in March, maybe the middle of March. "We won't be pitching him straight back into a Grade 1, we'll be taking baby steps and we could even run him over hurdles. He's a horse that needs a lot of care and attention but, touch wood, it's been so far so good with him."
Loved the whole flemenstar/p casey affair atd time, was good for the sport.now with trainer/gangster tony martin lets hope we see the old boy bk soon.
I will put my hand on my heart now and say we will never see the Flemenstar of old again. Much as it saddens me, I cannot see him getting back to the force of old. I have to say though, he is one of the few horses in recent years who have got me really emotional. When he cruised into the lead off the final bend in the Lexus I truly thought we have the next Kauto Star on our hands. The rest, as we know, is history but those few seconds where he looked like murdering a very good Grade 1 field were spine-tingling.
Here's that Lexus Chase . look at Flemenstar swinging along on the bit round the final bend with all the others hard at work. Such a shame he just ran out of steam.
Just watched it again and the twatting jockey took more pulls than a 13 year old with his first porn mag
Oddy, was quite literally going to post that same video tonight. When he swung off the turn and went 3 clear on the bridle we thought we had a new staying superstar. As we know, a few seconds later we hadn't. I still don't think he definitively does not stay 3m- he was nabbed by the stoutest, quirkiest legend of them all after going hammer and nails with First Lieutenant. Given his age, and now his trainer, it is unlikely we will see him win a Grade 1 ever again.
Flemenstar runs in the Webster Cup Chase at Navan this coming Saturday. Over 2m4f his potential rivals include Felix Yonger.
Hope he gets round well and gets fit. Would love to see him win a nice prize. If ever there was a year to win the Champion Chase this was it!
