Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle
Grade 1, Punchestown 16:15 €125,000 guaranteed, 4yo, 2m7f180y, Class 1
Tweet Wednesday 29th April 2026

1 Le Frimeur 18/1
2 Zanoosh 11/4F
3 I Started A Joke 11/1
14 ran Distances: 6½l, 6l, 6½l
Time: 6m 11.50s (slow by 15.10s)

Unbeaten - and now a Grade 1 winner!

Le Frimeur gives trainer @Harry05Derham a landmark winner in the Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle at @punchestownrace 👏 pic.twitter.com/MkiggN0FvK

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 29, 2026

Le Frimeur preserved his unbeaten record in emphatic fashion with a decisive victory, lowering the colours of the previously progressive Zanoosh.

With Espresso Milan setting the early tempo, the race developed steadily before taking shape turning for home, where J J Slevin made a bold move aboard the Harry Derham-trained Le Frimeur, sending him to the front with authority.

Zanoosh, sent off the 11-4 favourite and bidding to extend her winning sequence to six, gave chase but was unable to match the winner’s surge, eventually finishing six and a half lengths adrift of a rival who found plenty under pressure.

For Derham, the success marked a significant milestone, underlining both his ambition and the calibre of horse now under his care.

“It’s a cliche, but I genuinely dream about training Grade One winners,” he said.

“It’s absolutely unreal. Obviously it makes it an awful lot easier with very good horses.

“Simon actually grabbed me on the arm at this meeting last year and said he was going to send me this horse.

“To have the access to horses like this is something unbelievable.

“He got a little setback in the autumn and he’s just improved and improved all spring.

“We had no idea how good he was coming here and I’m still not sure we do to be honest. J J said he did plenty wrong in the race and he’s beaten a quality field well. It’s absolutely unreal.”

He added: “We obviously believed in the horse a lot or else we wouldn’t have brought him here. J J thought three miles was the right thing to do and it’s absolutely unreal.”

In a race that demanded both stamina and composure, Le Frimeur delivered on both counts, emerging as a staying novice of considerable promise with further progress seemingly still to come.

Channor Group Novice Hurdle (Grade 1)
€125,000 guaranteed, 4yo plus, 2m7f180y, Class 1
14 ran
Going: Yielding

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