Make Us Proud wins under HRI Awards winner

Monday's HRI Awards winner Bill Lee combined with trainer Andy Oliver for a notable Dundalk double today, as debutante Make Us Proud (12/1 - 8s) impressively won the concluding Crowne Plaza Dundalk Race & Stay Maiden.

The three year old son of Champs Elysees quickened smartly in the closing stages to defeat 74-rated Banned by an easy five lengths, completing doubles for the pair who were earlier successful with Team Valor's Cold Steel

Following Cold Steel's win, Oliver had confirmed the sale to America of his promising juvenile filly Paris Secret but in Make Us Proud, has a nice replacement.

The Tyrone trainer said “I'd say he (Make us Proud) is a nice horse. He needed time to mature so we did very little as a two-year-old. He wasn't huge at the Sales but he grew last year.

“He has really only been training this year, has taken time to come to himself but he always showed us a bit.

"I don't think he has ever been away from the farm and he's plenty green and it was nice the way he finished. It was a nice performance and Billy spoke highly of him, so I was well pleased.

"We will probably keep him ticking over, it will be after Christmas before he runs again and you'd be looking forward to him in his four-year-old career."

He added “he has plenty of size and strength and has really come to himself. He's by a sire (Champs Elysees) that was good to me before with a horse called a horse called Plot Twist who went to Australia and won Group 3s.”

Jockey Lee enjoyed an excellent 2022 with two Group 1 wins and a second-place finish in the Jockeys Championship and picked up the Flat Award at Monday's HRI awards ceremony.

Quotes from Michael Graham