BALLINGARRY jockey Billy Lee guided home Big Gossey, at huge odds of 25/1 in the €50,000 Listed Gladness Stakes at the Curragh.
This wonderful nine-year-old grey has now made it no less than nine wins in 50 starts at headquarters.
Nobody was interested when he went through the Goffs Foals sale with a reserve of €21,000 in 2017. He has since racked up close to €600,000 in earnings for owners the Allegro Syndicate and trainer Charles O’Brien.
On Sunday, ridden by Lee, he was always repelling the late thrust from East Hampton by over a length.
Even given his super record at the track, he was let start at a massive price.
“He had his conditions today. Juice in the ground and he needed run the last day. He is a little terrier and he loves a scrap,” Lee said.
O’Brien added: “I thought he was going to win half a mile out! It is very hard for a three-year-old (Albert Einstein, unplaced as 11/10f) to beat a battle-hardened warrior like him.
“Handicaps are going to be hard for him as he will be rated about 110 after today. I have never heard a cheer like that from a grandstand at the Curragh when he won, it was special.”