Le Frimeur remained unbeaten to give trainer Harry Derham a long-awaited Grade 1 breakthrough in the Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle at Punchestown.
At the Punchestown Festival on April 29, 2026, a relatively green team celebrated a milestone when Le Frimeur produced a commanding performance to claim the Channor Real Estate Group Novice Hurdle. Ridden by J.J. Slevin and owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede in their distinctive double-green silks, the French-bred son of Gemix answered a pattern of promise with a top-level success.
The victory was significant because it represented trainer Harry Derham‘s maiden Grade 1 triumph, a landmark in a career that had previously seen success at lower Group levels and steady development with this horse.
The race in context
The race covered a distance listed as two miles seven furlongs and 190 yards and Le Frimeur went off at odds of 18/1, while the market favourite Zanoosh started at 11/4.
Riding prominently, Slevin positioned Le Frimeur to make a decisive move between the third-last and the penultimate flight. Once asked, the winner quickened and pulled clear, ultimately beating Zanoosh by a convincing six-and-a-half lengths. That margin underscored not just a single good jump but a performance that suggested marked improvement compared with earlier runs at Chepstow and Newbury.
Key rival form and finishing order
Zanoosh, the runner-up, had been firmly fancied and pressed hard, but could not match the winner’s finishing power. Behind them, the Charles and Philip Byrnes partnership saw I Started A Joke take third, finishing about six lengths further back from Zanoosh. Fruit De Mer ran fourth; the same gelding had been second in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival on his previous outing. Noting this sequence gives a clearer picture of the field: a mix of experienced festival performers and emerging talent, with Le Frimeur now elevated to the top tier after an unbeaten stretch that began in point-to-point company.
Formline and pedigree insights
Le Frimeur’s unbeaten CV prior to Punchestown included wins in a point-to-point and notable successes at tracks such as Chepstow and Newbury. Bred in France and sired by Gemix, the five-year-old carries traits preferred by connections who already considered him suited to staying obstacles. Trainer Derham and the owners had targeted this progressive route, and the horse’s size and scope were repeatedly mentioned as reasons to think of chasing in the future. In that sense, the Punchestown result functions as both an achievement and a statement of plans.
Trainer reaction and significance
For Derham the victory represented a long-held ambition becoming reality. He described the moment as the fulfilment of a dream for any handler aiming at the highest level. Although he had tasted Grade 2 success before, this was his first horse to reach the summit of Grade 1 competition. He emphasised the value of the owners’ faith, noting that access to horses of this calibre is rare and precious. Derham praised the colt’s temperament and stamina, and highlighted that Le Frimeur can do more even after a performance that mixed power with a bit of inexperience under pressure.
Connections and future targets
The ownership group of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede celebrated a return to the big time; it was their first Grade 1 since the owners had been associated with Talk The Talk’s success at the Dublin Racing Festival in February. After Punchestown, attention naturally shifts toward potential staying chases next season, with bookmakers already speculating about entries such as the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham. Derham hinted that the colt’s scope and energy point to a future over bigger fences, and he admitted he would enjoy thinking about the horse’s development between now and the autumn.
What the performance means for the sport
Beyond the individual milestones, Le Frimeur’s triumph underscores how rapid progression can transform a horse’s profile: an unbeaten record across point-to-point, hurdle wins, and a top-level success suggests a genuine staying prospect. The race at Punchestown demonstrated how race tactics, a bold ride by Slevin, and latent ability can combine to overturn market estimates. As pundits and trainers digest the result, the performance will be discussed in the context of route planning for novice chasers and the broader dynamic of owners investing in promising young staying horses.
Final note
The win on April 29, 2026, will stay with the connections as a turning point: a clean, authoritative Grade 1 victory that alters expectations and opens new possibilities for Le Frimeur’s path through the staying division. With his unbeaten record intact and a team already contemplating bigger tests, the horse and his people are set to be figures of interest in the months ahead.
