A FORMER Carbery Rangers footballer who swapped the O’Neill’s ball for the saddle has described his breakthrough Cheltenham Festival win as ‘a dream come true’.
Rosscarbery man Brian Hayes (34) hit the headlines at Cheltenham when he guided Impervious to victory in the Paddy Power Mares' Chase on the final day of the festival.
He was the second West Cork winner of the week after Dunmanway’s Gavin Sheehan steered You Wear It Well to victory in the Jack de Bromhead Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle the day before.
Hayes had a good feeling ahead of the race on St Patrick’s Day, predicting beforehand that this dream combination – they had already won four times together – would go very well, with Allegorie De Vassey as the big threat. That’s exactly how this thriller played out.
The battle was between Impervious and Allegorie De Vassey, with the latter taking the lead after the final fence, but Hayes and Impervious were not to be denied, finishing powerfully to take a two-length win that was celebrated from Rosscarbery to Cheltenham.
‘This is different gravy. It’s the festival everyone wants to get a winner at and I got one so it’s amazing,’ a delighted Hayes said after riding his first Cheltenham Festival winner.
This is a huge moment in the career of the former Ross footballer who played with his club from U12 to junior level, before deciding he wanted to be a jockey.
Hayes rode his first prize winner in March 2008, on Grancore Girl (for local trainer Thomas O’Leary) at Clonmel. A photo of a presentation to the young jockey appeared in The Southern Star in April ’08, under the Carbery Rangers GAA notes in which he also featured; he was on the Ross minor team that beat Naomh Abán in the league.
He told the Star previously that he reached a crossroads when he was 18 years old: horse racing or football.
‘Football was a big thing for me until it got to the stage where I had to decide between that and horse racing. I would have been about 18 at the time. That was a big moment and even though I did miss playing, becoming a jockey was what I wanted to do,’ Hayes said, and he made the move.
His connection to home is still strong, and his success on Friday was celebrated in West Cork as Hayes delivered for trainer Colm Murphy, who had his first Cheltenham winner since 2016.
Hayes and Impervious have now enjoyed five wins together, out of the seven-year-old's total of seven.
‘She is a class act, I think I have won five on her now, and a winner in Cheltenham; she means a lot to me,’ Hayes said.
Dunmanway jockey Gavin Sheehan on You Wear It Well celebrates victory.(Photo: Tom MaherINPHO)
For Dunmanway jockey Gavin Sheehan, he enjoyed his third Cheltenham winner with his success in the Jack de Bromhead Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle following on from wins in 2015 (Cole Harden) and in 2020 (Simply The Betts). You Wear It Well (16/1) won by just under three lengths, and Sheehan was full of praise for the winner afterwards.
‘I love her, she is a diamond. She tanked the first furlong and a half and she did prick her ears the last time I rode her, but it was honestly poetry in motion today. I just filled her up and when something came on her outside, her ears went back,’ the West Cork man explained.
