Walk In The Park Gelding Justifies Grade 1 Entry

The future looks bright for Shuffle The Deck (4g Walk In The Park – A Country Girl, by Flemensfirth), after the Ted Walsh-trained gelding won Monday’s maiden hurdle at Naas in good style.

Bred by Mrs Noreen McManus and owned by JP McManus, the son of Walk In The Park won a four-year-old maiden at Borris in March and returned last month to finish third in what looked a hot maiden hurdle. He was sent off joint-favourite on Monday, with Mark Walsh riding the bay in touch with the leaders and was travelling well approaching the penultimate flight. Asserting before the last, he stayed on well on the run-in to win by three and a quarter lengths.

He did it nicely,” Walsh said after the race. “He looks like a horse that will make a nice chaser. I've had a few nice novices over the years and I'd say he's as good as we've had at this stage, but he has a long way to go.”

A step up in class is now on the cards for Shuffle The Deck, who holds an entry in the Grade 1 Lawlors Hotel Novice Hurdle.