Champion Lee wins Curragh finale on impressive Thread Of Gold

The Curragh's QuinnBet Finale Stakes, over a mile and a half, brought the curtain down on the 2026 Flat season and newly-crowned champion jockey Billy Lee finished his own campaign in style when successful on the impressive 2/1 favourite Thread Of Gold .

Lee sat motionless approaching the two furlong marker as all the other jockeys got to work and the Ghaiyyth gelding, winner of back-to-back premier handicaps in July, eased to the front over a furlong out before being pushed clear to beat Contorsion by three and a half lengths.

Lee finished the season on 99 winners, 20 more than his closest pursuer Colin Keane.

Willie Mullins, also on the mark with two winners at Cork, trains the exciting three-year-old for (Team Valor International and Gary Barber.

Assistant trainer David Casey commented “He had the form coming into it to be very competitive, and to win.

“His work had been very good during the week.

“Billy said he did it well and he was delighted with him. He thinks he'll be better on better ground, which was a bit surprising as I thought he'd handle the cut well.

“He said he's got a bit of pace and he's maturing the whole time, so hopefully it's onwards and upwards.

“He ran really well in Leopardstown the last day, probably just didn't fully get the run of the race.

“Obviously coming here today for this race was ideal for him, it was perfect and it's great to get it.

“I think he might strengthen up over the winter a bit and hopefully he'll be a lovely horse for next year, he might be able to step up a bit in grade as well.”

When asked if he could go a bit further, he added “He possibly could because he's got that mentality, he relaxes in his races, but Billy said he has enough speed.”

“We'll see what Willie wants to do next year, but I'm sure if he wanted to go a little bit further, it wouldn't be an issue.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson