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Michael Graham

Michael Graham

The Parishioner sheds his maiden tag

Sun 6th Jul 2014, 14:51

Killiney Court leads eventual winner The ParishionerKilliney Court leads eventual winner The Parishioner
© Photo Healy Racing

The Parishioner put a smile on the faces of favourite backers when getting up to beat Killiney Court in Bellewstown’s opening two mile one maiden hurdle.

Killiney Court put in an indifferent display of jumping, but when he jumped the second last well when in the lead he looked poised to score. However, he fiddled the last and allowed The Parishioner to stay on strongly and win by three parts of a length at 10/11, with Mark Walsh urging him home.

John Kiely 's five-year-old gelding had been 11/4 this morning. Killiney Court got second-placed money at 7/1. There was a 16 length gap back to Poetic Lord in third at 11/2.

Frank Berry, racing manager to JP McManus said: “He made heavy enough weather of it, but he got there in the end and we’ll find a little handicap for him now.

“He came on a bit for the run in Kilbeggan which was his first run for a while and he’ll get a bit further down the road.”

Additional reporting by Alan Magee

About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.