Faugheen and Don Cossack share top HRI award

In a ceremony presented by outspoken broadcaster and former minister Ivan Yates, it was the possessor of another distinctive, equally familiar and similarly ebullient voice, course commentator Dessie Scahill, whose contribution the racing industry was celebrated at the annual Horse Racing Ireland Awards yesterday afternoon at Leopardstown Pavilion.

Scahill, renowned as the voice of racing in Ireland since the passing of the late great Micheal O’Hehir, begin his career in racing as apprentice to Dermot Weld’s father, Charlie, but has since become an institution for his services as a race-caller.

His distinctive tones have called countless races over the years, but it was the oft-recounted commentary of Dawn Run’s famous victory in the 1986 Cheltenham Gold Cup, broadcast on RTÉ Radio, which is, perhaps, most fondly remembered.