IT WAS a day of near things for the Irish at Cheltenham. Even in the Best Dressed Lady awards, we had to settle for the “accessories” prize. Here again, the main award went to England while, in a dramatic upset, the “best hat” title was scooped by a first-time visitor from Miami.
Typically, however, when the prizes were presented in the winner’s enclosure, it was the Irish competitor who got the biggest cheer. Bernadette O’Sullivan from Milltown, Co Kerry, had form at this kind of thing, having previously won the top prize at the Killarney Races. This time she was recognised for her ensemble of extras, including an umbrella which, if the weather forecast is correct, she will need for more than fashion purposes today. When Irish-trained runners lose at Cheltenham, more often than not we we can at least claim to have bred the winner. This option was ruled out in the case of the Best Dressed Lady, the interestingly-named Carly Shave from Tottenham. But there were grounds for hope with the hat winner, Molly McGarvey, who was sure she had Irish relatives somewhere.
The American promised her next racing festival would be Galway. Whereupon it was hinted to her, delicately, that she might have to up her game to win any fashion prizes there. The truth is that, in terms of the breadth of competition, tweedy Cheltenham is not a patch on Ladies Day in Ballybrit. Of course, one of the events is in March and the other July. So the tweed may be excusable.
On a day when no Irish-trained horse won, even Michael O’Leary had to settle for a supporting role. First he sponsored the afternoon’s second-biggest race, the Ryanair Chase. Then he watched his former Gold Cup winner War of Attrition trying to live up to his name by wearing down the opposition from the front in the big one: the World Hurdle.
As its owner predicted, the veteran horse did not have enough gas left to lead from start to finish. “Like myself he’s a bit too old for making it all,” he said. In fact the horse faded badly, to finish outside the placings. But O’Leary’s main priority was that it would get home safely. After Punchestown next month, the plan for War of Attrition is “honourable retirement” at Gigginstown Stud. “Himself and myself will grow old together,” quipped O’Leary.
The words “Ryanair” and “charity” do not often appear in the same sentence. But O’Leary was one of 12 owners who lent horses to a special race in aid of cancer research yesterday. It happened at the end of the race programme and pitted 12 amateur female jockeys against each other, some of whom had never ridden in a horse race before.
In a repeat of Wednesday’s Walsh-Carberry showdown, this also saw two Irish women slugging it out up the Cheltenham hill. The runner-up was Kate Doyle, daughter of former MEP Avril. The winner was her friend, Dublin-based barrister and former three-day-eventer Orna Madden, who in her first ever race steered a horse called Prince Picasso to a narrow victory.
“Scary” was how Madden described the experience of jumping fences at 30mph. “Surreal” was how she described winning. Either way, it was for a good cause, one to which, as a board member of the Whitfield Cancer Centre in Waterford, she was deeply committed.
Even in this event, incidentally, the winning mount was trained in England. O’Leary’s Connectivity at least did what War of Attrition failed to do by reaching the winner’s enclosure. He finished fourth, piloted there by Irish Field columnist Caitrin O’Rourke.
Back in the regular race programme, cancer battler Oliver Brady was among the Irish nearly men yesterday, but not without a fight. Given six months to live – seven years ago and counting – the Monaghan trainer is used to beating odds. So when Ebadiyan was deemed an 80-1 no-hoper, Brady did not despair.
As is standard at race meetings, he wore a Monaghan GAA jersey underneath. Had Ebadiyan made it into the winners’ enclosure, the trainer would as usual have celebrated by tearing off his jacket and shirt to reveal his county colours. In the event, the horse ran heroically to finish fifth. So unlike most punters here this week, Brady kept his shirt (on).