Rogue Angel gives Mouse Morris emotional Kerry National win

“With the year I’ve had this is very special,” said trainer Mouse Morris after watching Rogue Angel battle back bravely to snatch victory in the Guinness Kerry National, when the Listowel Harvest Festival resumed yesterday afternoon.

On-track disappointments pale in comparison to the devastating loss of his son, Christopher, who died while on holiday in Argentina, in June. But Morris, emotional in the aftermath, was deserving of a change of luck in a feature event, having gone to close in the Irish National and, more recently, the Galway Plate.

Jockey Ger Fox set out to make the running aboard the 8-1 chance and the pair maintained an advantage until turning for home for the last time. Soon afterwards they looked in trouble when stable-companion Rule The World edged ahead racing to the second-last, but both looked set to settle for minor roles when Urano galloped to the front approaching the last.