'I told everyone to back her' - hear all about the mum who won on a 66-1 shot

Mum-of-one Linzi Dowdall says winning on 66-1 shot Khezaana in front of her seven-year-old daughter Ellie-Mae at the Curragh on Sunday, nine years on from her last victory, was a feeling she will never forget and one that has prompted phone calls of congratulations from as far away as Spain.

Dowdall's last winner was on Polish Partisan in a Sligo bumper in 2012 but the 36-year-old rolled back the years in the Tesoro Vita Ladies Trophy Handicap when she guided Khezaana to a shock success for trainer Donal Kinsella.

Linzi Dowdall embraces her daughter Ellie-Mae after winning at the Curragh on SundayCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

A thrilled Dowdall told the Racing Post on Monday: "It was a feeling I'll never forget – it was just magic. The phone hasn't stopped ever since, I've been getting calls from all over the place, even Spain. I'm over the moon because my daughter Ellie-Mae was there to see it and my husband John Sullivan led up the horse, so it was a real family occasion.

"I think I'm most happy for the boss [Kinsella]. He's such a gentleman. I was the oldest rider in the race but I knew the filly was a bit special. At home nothing can lie up with her. Absolutely nothing can get her off the bridle."

Explaining the sacrifices she made to ride in the race, Dowdall said: "I had to work very hard to make the weight. I changed an awful lot. I started eating well and going to a gym in Ardee. Every single day, no matter where we went, I would get my husband to drop me off somewhere and I would run home from the countryside. That's what got me fit. It was all worth it in the end."

'I'm absolutely over the moon for her'

Kinsella, who is based in Dunleer, County Louth, was full of praise for Dowdall, stressing it was her hard work that brought out the best in Khezaana.

Kinsella said: "She rides him, she feeds him, she minds him; she does everything with him. I'm absolutely over the moon for her. She was brilliant."

Khezaana was not unfancied despite her SP of 66-1, as Kinsella explained.

4.05 Curragh Sunday: full result and race replay

He said: "She ran at Galway and Robbie [Colgan] came back in and said he couldn't wait to ride her again.

"We couldn't believe she was the price she was. I told everyone I met over the last few days to have a fiver each-way on her and that she had a great chance.

"I was getting calls from lads this morning [Monday], the local heroes around these parts, thanking me for the tip and it sounded to me like an awful lot of them were still celebrating. Lads who had a fiver each-way on her would have got the guts of 400 quid back."

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