FORMER amateur rider and Adare hotelier Bryan Murphy won the eagerly awaited charity race at Limerick which was held in aid of the Irish Injured Jockeys Fund and riders were presented with mementos of the race, cartoons by Peter Curling.

This one-mile, five-furlong contest was turned into a stamina test by Sheikh Fahad Al Thani who sent Captain Morley into a decent lead from early on. The latter was still in charge on the approach to the straight but Sheikh Fahad found himself being stalked by Johnny Murtagh, Kevin Darley and Bryan Murphy who was riding the Charles O’Brien-trained and J.P. McManus-owned Hurricane Sky.

Approaching the last furlong, Murphy’s mount and the Johnny Murtagh-ridden Eye Of The Tiger went toe-to-toe and Hurricane Sky was the stronger over the last 150 yards. Kevin Darley and Domination took third while Captain Morley faded to finish fifth.

The winning jockey, who rides out every morning and whose son Hugh also took part in the race, enjoyed notable success in point-to-points and rode plenty of winners at the old Limerick racecourse which included a defeat of Peter Scudamore in a charity event some years ago.

Bryan Murphy commented: “The biggest thrill of all was seeing J.T. McNamara and his lovely wife Caroline there together with their three children in the parade ring when I came back in after the race, that was pretty special.”

Sheikh Fahad Al Thani reflected: “That was brilliant. I loved every second of it and I can’t wait to do it again. I thought for a moment that I might have it and then I looked behind and saw Johnny and Kevin going well and thought ‘oh no, I’ve no chance now’.”

Afterwards, it was announced that in addition to the money raised by the riders who participated in the race, J.P. McManus made a further contribution of €100,000 to the funds.