Hey Pretty (cheek-pieces)© Photo Healy Racing
The John McConnell trained Hey Pretty caused a 25/1 upset when winning the Toals.com Bookmakers Handicap at Fairyhouse today, under last weekend's Irish 2,000 Guineas winning jockey Shane Foley.
The three year old gelding finished eighth on handicap debut at Tipperary earlier this month but following today's win, McConnell revealed “I thought he'd run well as he was a bit unlucky the last day when he was drawn wide and was trapped wide the whole way and didn't run too bad.
“I was down in the chute at Tipperary when he went past me and I thought he looked at me nearly, so I put the cheekpieces on him and the ground probably made a big difference. It was very soft last time.
“He always showed us something so I'm delighted to get his head in front.”
Quotes from Gary Carson
