Conna hero basks in glory
The Jimmy Mangan-trained 10-year-old was due to return home in the early hours of yesterday morning but missed the 3am ferry from Holyhead following an impromptu party in Liverpool on Saturday night.
Instead, the horse and his connections boarded the 9am sailing to Dublin and stopped off on their way to County Cork at the Curragh, where the runaway National winner paraded after the second race.
The horse was led round by Mangan’s wife Mary, while her husband received a presentation of a bronze horse’s head from Curragh committee chairman Michael Osborne to mark the occasion.
“There’s not a mark on him and all he wants is a pick of grass,” Mrs Mangan said. “We are delighted to bring him here on our way home to Conna.”
Winning jockey Barry Geraghty barely had an anxious moment in the big race as the pair cruised home by 12 lengths from Supreme Glory, and the in-form rider could was back on the horse last night as they shared the limelight in front of thousands of people in the East Cork village.
Geraghty had been riding yesterday in Tramore but travelled across to join in the celebrations.
The two the Fisherman’s Rest and The Winner’s Enclosure were bursting at the seams.
Monty’s Pass is owned by the Dee Racing syndicate in which Blackpool-born Mike Futter is the major figure.
Futter said the horse’s victory was worth 800,000 pounds (1.28 million) to him alone.
But he was not the only one to land a touch as a result of the win.
Bookies’ shops all over Cork had queues of people lining up after the race to collect their winnings.
All the bookies with shops locally took a hit as people went out to support their ‘local horse’ “It went exactly as we’d planned,” Futter said yesterday.
“Barry’s on top of his form, the trainer had the horse primed for the day and we’ve told everyone about him for the last three weeks.
“I know lots and lots of people backed him at 33-1 but I got a little bit better.”
