Logan keen to see Final Demand justify his faith at Cheltenham

There will be many people cheering on Turners Novices’ Hurdle hope Final Demand at the Cheltenham Festival, but none more so than Joey Logan.

Logan was the man who identified the potential early on and bought the strapping six-year-old as a store horse, before nurturing him along at his Grangeclare Stud centre of excellence in County Kildare to such an extent he was an impressive winner in his sole point-to-point at Lingstown in March last year

That opened the door for a sale to leading owners Bryan Drew and Professor Caroline Tisdall and 12 months on from that six-length success between the flags, Final Demand appears to have the world at his feet, having followed some of Logan’s other famous graduates by joining Willie Mullins.

Since transferring to Mullins’ Closutton academy, he has not only dazzled on his rules debut at Limerick over Christmas but also at the Dublin Racing Festival, when stepping up to Grade One company with aplomb.

He is generally a 6-4 favourite for the opening race on day two of the Festival and the man who oversaw his early days is eyeing victory for his former pupil in an all-star clash with Dan Skelton’s The New Lion.

“I bought him as a store horse and he won a point-to-point for me before I sold him to Bryan Drew and Professor Tisdall,” explained Logan.

“He was very impressive at Leopardstown and it was a big step up from his win in his maiden hurdle at Limerick over Christmas. At the Dublin Racing Festival, he looked very good and jumped and travelled superbly.

“He’s always had a very good temperament and we’re excited now hoping everything goes to plan in the Turners.”

Logan was, of course, also known for his role as racing manager to Andy and Gemma Brown before their wealth of talent was dispersed at last year’s big-money Goffs sale.

However, his renowned nursery’s history book is littered with Grade One winners and Logan is always looking to unearth the next superstar when investing in young stock to then develop at his own equine finishing school.

He added: “Nearly everything I buy are babies and stores and you nurse them along and then we bring them along and try to produce a nice horse that can either win a point-to-point or we can move on to the bigger operations and hope they can go on to be very successful.

“We have our own gallops at home and we try to nicely educate them as much as we can and we just hope we can keep producing nice Grade One winners.”

As well as Final Demand, Croke Park is another Grade One winner this term that has Logan’s fingerprints, while Grangeclare West could have the Randox Grand National on his agenda this spring after chasing home Galopin Des Champs in the Irish Gold Cup.

Logan is also hoping Jazzy Matty can strike again at Prestbury Park, having provided him with a great day in 2023 when winning the Fred Winter in the hands of the late Michael O’Sullivan.

“I sold Croke Park, Grangeclare West and Final Demand all after winning a point,” said Logan.

“We’ve sold some nice horses and also had the likes of Finian’s Oscar, who was a Grade One horse, and we’ve had 16 or 17 Grade One winners over the last seven or eight years, we’ve been very lucky.

“Jazzy Matty is our one Cheltenham Festival winner and he has a great chance again this year. I saw him work the other day and he loves Cheltenham. Sa Fureur is another one of mine and I think he would have an each-way chance in the Plate.”