Well done everybody - you did Pat proud on a super Sunday

We do bickering better than anyone. All too often we are clouded in controversy and prefer to see half-empty glasses, but Sunday at the Curragh proved that racing can do things right every now and again and, when it happens, it is absolutely glorious.

The idea was inspirational and the man behind it gives the word a whole new meaning.

“Pat is just an unbelievably special man and that’s why everyone is behind him. We’re all privileged to know him and it’s great to be able to support him and it’s for an unbelievably good cause.”

Those were the words of Aidan O’Brien when speaking about the occasion unfolding in front of him.

Of course, Pat Smullen did not want the day to be about him at all.
“This is not about me,” he urged. “This is about raising awareness for pancreatic cancer and vital funds for the research and trials that are so badly needed.”

But ask yourself this: would people have been so generous and would some of the best jockeys of all time been so willing to take part in the Champions Race for Cancer Trials Ireland had it not been about him?

The nine-time champion is a legend and this was the perfect stage to show how much he means to us.

Chris Hayes took to Twitter to declare he was donating his riding fees for the weekend to the fund and Donnacha O’Brien did likewise. By the time the weekend arrived, the majority of jockeys had followed suit. Great men giving to a great cause.

Stable staff are not cashing lavish cheques at the end of every week, yet all the best-turned-out prizes over the weekend were donated to the cause, while Noel Meade’s assistant Emma Connolly threw €200 of her own into the pot. So many others did too.

Sir Anthony McCoy, flanked by Ruby Walsh (left) and Paul Carberry (right)Credit: Patrick McCann

Photographer Sinead Ni Riain rewarded €20 donations with a €195 studio portrait voucher, while Dermot Weld had racegoers tapping him on the shoulder and handing him over twenties and fifties.

The charity auction turned into a bounty of benevolence. So powerful was the cause that even Eddie O’Leary appears to have hugged and made up with Willie Mullins. Well, his €3,400 was enough to secure a yard visit to the man who used provide him with so many great days. He hasn’t been to Closutton in a while.

As the 7pm deadline for the auction approached there was more than €1.3 million in the fund, which included a half-a-million donation from Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum and another chunky cheque from Eva Maria Bucher-Haefner on behalf of Moyglare.

Smullen wanted to ride in the race more than anything, but a setback last month deprived him the chance of playing in his favourite playground for one final time.

“We thought we were getting there and on the right side of it but unfortunately about a month ago we got a setback and we are undergoing chemotherapy again,” Smullen said with his trademark refreshing honesty.

“Sure life is full of setbacks and we just have to deal with them. You just have to work your way through it and we seem to be going back in the right direction again.

“We were back in full swing of riding out and doing a bit of work for Moyglare Stud and I was really enjoying it. Selfishly I wanted to have the race here because I wanted to ride at this wonderful venue one last time.

“If there is one disappointment, it is that I’m not riding in the race but it’s just unbelievable that the boys came out of retirement for the race.”

Sir Anthony McCoy celebrates another victoryCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

We rewound a decade for the race. McCoy pushing away on a front-runner. Ruby coaxing one into contention. Carberry cruising on their inner. It was the conclusion we craved.

McCoy managed to get all the right answers out of Quizical, even if his flying dismount was not Dettori-esque.

“We can be very proud of horseracing in Ireland. The stable staff, the racegoers, owners, trainers, jockeys – everyone has given today so much support to the amazing man that Pat Smullen is,” McCoy said.

It was fitting that McCoy won the charity race and, even more fitting was Moyglare Stud winning the Irish St Leger with Search For A Song, a victory Bucher-Haefner dedicated to Smullen. He was always superb in those silks.

This was a Sunday to savour at the Curragh. A day for racing fans to give themselves a clap on the back. Well done, everybody. You did Pat proud.

Members can read the latest exclusive tipping content such as Pricewise and Paul Kealy from 6pm daily on racingpost.com