Smiler and Mikey O'Connor© Photo Healy Racing
Mikey O'Connor donned an owner and trainer's cap beneath his jockey's helmet at Galway today, when combining all three rolls to win the Faber Audiovisuals Handicap Hurdle on Smiler which made all and set himself up for a possible tilt at next year's Galway Hurdle.
O'Connor made all on the son of Vinnie Roe and following his gutsy two and three parts of a length win, the owner/trainer stated “I didn't say it at the time but I thought Noel O'Brien (handicapper) was very hard on him and I didn't think he'd good enough to win today.
“We bypassed a run last week to come here as this was a nice pot and he might be a horse for a Galway Hurdle in time, off a light weight. He's only a handy horse and it'd be a waste of time running him on winter ground – he'd have his arse kicked by soft ground horses! He could run at Dundalk though.”
Regarding the gelding's name, O'Connor added “he came with that name when I bought him from David Magnier and he asked me to leave it on him.”
