Fitzgerald experiences the joy of six

LEGENDARY Kerry trainer Pa Fitzgerald recorded his second J.P. McManus Irish Cup win in-a-row, and his sixth in all, when last season’s Boylesport Derby runner-up, Sandy Sea, landed the €80,000 winning prize for well- known owner Patsy Byrne (Duagh and London) at a well attended and highly successful Patrickswell meeting yesterday.

Fitzgerald, now based in Crogh, Co. Limerick, was quick to praise his gallant charge, declaring: “You need to have the ammunition and this is a super dog who never gets tired.”

It was an exceptional training feat by Fitzgerald because the dog was slightly lame after the Champion Stakes in Clonmel last month. However, Fitzgerald stressed the dog was beaten fair and square in that decider by Catunda Ashmore but decided to let him take his chance in the Irish Cup when the classic was put back a week.