Joe Walsh had warned John O'Donoghue that Newmill would win the Queen Mother Champion Chase. "He's been telling me for two days," said the current Minister of the former one.
"I kept saying, 'I can't see it, Joe. I can't see it.' I can see it now."
We could all see it now, as the 16-1 shot stood in the winner's enclosure, surrounded by excited west Cork people who, like the long-time minister for agriculture, had been in on the secret.
Owned by Mary Hayes and trained in Upton, the horse was backed in from 100-1. And although Joe, a native of Clonakilty, only got involved at the 20 mark, this was enough to excite the envy of his fellow Fianna Fáiler. "He had superb form over hurdles and he's extremely well-bred," explained Mr Walsh (referring to the horse, not the Minister for Sport).
Although the sun came out on the second day of the festival, it wasn't enough to end the Moscow winter, which is now permanent. The reigning champion ran gamely to finish fifth. But no sooner had Moscow Flyer's retirement been confirmed than Ireland was celebrating a new champion, as it had the day before.
Ridden by Croom jockey Andrew McNamara, Newmill represented the greatest Cork-Limerick team effort since Munster's last European Cup match, and the winner's enclosure was thick with the accents of the southwest.
Paddy Whelton and Colm Quirke from Clonakilty had both invested at long odds, reflecting what the former called "fierce confidence" in the horse. And it wasn't just the horse. The jockey had brought a fan club too, led by his mother Kathleen and his aunts Mary Murphy and Ann Weekes.
It's not an emotion you'd want to encourage, but there were times yesterday when you felt sorry for the English. After the heavily backed Demnan lost the opener, one home supporter turned to his friend and said: "Shall we go home?" As yet another prize went west, it seemed like the long-threatened Irish takeover of a once-English festival was complete.
At the end of day two, the raiders have already won seven races - the record for four days is nine - and are two-thirds the way towards retaining the triple crown (Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Gold Cup) first won last year.
The resilience of the Irish challenge was personified by RTÉ's Des Cahill. He lost heavily on Tuesday afternoon, to a pickpocket in the parade ring. That night, a sympathiser told him he could recover his money by backing Sky's the Limit in yesterday's 4.40.
The post-dated insurance scheme delivered handsomely when the Eddie O'Grady-trained horse won, returning Cahill's £40 (€58) premium at odds of 11-1.
A word of warning, however. Apart from Cahill, Joe Walsh, the population of west Cork, and the Irish horse racing industry generally, the big winners yesterday were the bookmakers.
The Irish horses were given rousing receptions back at the winner's enclosure, and the man whose job it is to hand a tricolour to the jockey never missed his cue. But there was something dutiful about the celebrations from punters, most of whom did not have shares in the success.
None of which mattered to the winners, of course. A point neatly summed up by the connections of Hairy Molly, the horse that won the last race at 33-1, for a Listowel syndicate called FTB. Apparently, the acronym means "F*** The Begrudgers".
Newmill assumes Moscow's crown: SportsThursday