ALWAYS an astute punter and a great man to celebrate a victory, the late Jeremy O’Neill would have loved to have had a wager on the 25/1 shot that won a memorial race in his memory at a rain-soaked Killarney racecourse this Sunday afternoon.
Davy Russell guided rank outsider Kate’s Benefit past the post to clinch the honours with Ruby Walsh on the hotly fancied Willie Mullins trained White Out left in his wake.
The Jeremy O’Neill Memorial Mares Hurdle was an emotional highlight on the first of the three-day May meeting in Bunrower with friends of the hugely popular Killarney businessman, who passed away last October, financing the race in his memory.
The charismatic and quick-witted Jeremy, a lifelong horseracing fan, was just 58 when he lost a long battle with cancer and pals opted to honour him at the track that meant so much to him and where he dedicated so much time to the development and success of his beloved Killarney Racegoers’ Club.
Club chairman, Tim Brosnan, paid a warm tribute to Jeremy who he said had encouraged him to join the club over 30 years ago and he said he is greatly missed by everybody that knew and loved him.
In addition to sponsoring the €17,500 race, Jeremy’s friends also arranged a collection for the Cancer Research Clinical Research Trust and they were thrilled to be in a position to present a cheque for over €10,000 to one of the country’s leading oncologists, Professor John Crowne, at the track this Sunday.
Meanwhile, there was some disappointment in Killarney when former Champion Chase winner, Finian’s Rainbow, was ruled out of the extended two-and-a-half mile chase because the conditions were not suitable and than resulted in another victory for the in-form Davy Russell on 6/1 shot Letter of Credit.
9/2 joint favourite Waxies Dargle returned to form in the feature Grade B Ladbrokes Ireland Handicap Hurdle.
Off the track, Lee O’Donoghue’s accuracy from placed balls ensured a big Glenflesk triumph in the Lá na gClub free-taking competition and he overcome a stern challenge from other hopefuls to bag a cool €3,000 for his club.
