Martin Brassil: I never thought I'd have a Gold Cup horse

Fastorslow could bring his shrewd trainer to the pinnacle of National Hunt racing

LOOKING GOOD: Martin Brassil and Gold Cup contender Fastorslow after a Curragh workout on Wednesday.  Picture: Morgan Treacy/Inpho

Martin Brassil belongs to a band of tremendously talented Irish trainers who may never wish to compete in the numbers game which could yield a trainers’ championship but when the ammunition is right, they can deliver on the biggest stages.

Brassil, whose best season to date in Ireland yielded 13 winners, came to wider prominence all the way back in 2005 when Numbersixvalverde won the Irish National, and when the same horse won the Aintree equivalent a season later, he marked himself down as a truly shrewd operator.