Sublime Simenon steals the show at Cork

“It’s a great honour to win this race, run in memory of Joe Walsh, who was the minister responsible for setting up Horse Racing Ireland. In racing we owe a fair bit to Joe and his commitment to racing. And today, hopefully, will be a celebration of that.”

So said winning trainer Willie Mullins after watching Simenon, ridden by Ruby Walsh, justify odds of 2-5 in the inaugural running of the Joe Walsh Memorial, run in the name of the late Minister for Agriculture and TD for Cork South-West who died in November of 2014.

The winner, a versatile nine-year-old with high-class form on the Flat, had only three rivals here and jumped with enthusiasm throughout before easing clear after the last to win with the authority one would hope for from such a short-priced favourite.