Papal Parade (left)© Photo Healy Racing
Papal Parade was a topical winner at Roscommon today as the Eamonn O'Connell trained mare returned from injury to win the concluding Sean Cleary Memorial Handicap under jockey Declan McDonogh.
Previously successful twice in September 2016, today's 16/1 winner missed almost a year from June 2017-May 2018 through injury and O'Connell, from Cullen, Co Tipperary, later revealed “she cracked her shin last year so we missed most of last year and the ground was too fast this summer.
“We were waiting for a bit of soft ground and we hope she'll improve a bit from today.
“We gave her plenty of time and gave her one run before it got good and then just left her alone for the rest of the summer.
“We've no real plans but hopefully we'll have a good autumn with her now.
“That's her third win and she's very very tough and never knows when she's beaten.”
Pope Francis arrives in to Dublin on Saturday morning and leaves the following evening.
Quotes from Gary Carson
