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Forpadydeplasterer (ridden by Joanne Quirke), Racehorse to Riding Horse class Dublin Horse Show RDS. Photo: Patrick McCann
A FORMER racing favourite with Tralee punters – thanks to his connection to trainer Tom Cooper – is still winning accolades…but not on the racecourse.
Forpadytheplasterer and Joanne Quirke won the Irish Thoroughbred Marketing (ITM) Racehorse To Riding Horse class at the Dublin Horse Show for the third consecutive year on Saturday.
The fourteen-year-old won two Grade 1 races over hurdles and chase fences during a career that accumulated over half a million euro in prize-money for trainer Tom Cooper and owners the Goat Racing Syndicate.
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Twenty-time British champion jockey Sir AP McCoy rode him to finish second on two of his Grade 1 starts and the pair were reunited at the RDS, as McCoy was judging the class, along with Curragh trainer Willie McCreery.
Fifteen horses took part, with nine having automatically-qualified or been chosen as a Wild Card entry, with the other six having qualified by winning at the Armagh, Ballymoney, Clonmel, Athlone, Gorey or Cork shows.
Speaking afterwards, winning rider Joanne Quirke said, “I’m really delighted to have won the ITM Racehorse to Riding Horse class for the third time with Forpadydeplasterer (IRE). It’s a brilliant class promoting the versatility of ex-racehorses and the crowds were three-deep around the arena. All the horses seemed to give Sir AP McCoy a great spin and this year featured an all-star line-up. It’s great to have Irish Thoroughbred Marketing supporting this great concept and I am very thankful for their kind sponsorship of this year’s class.”
