Maria O'Grady remembered following Leopardstown's last

The late Maria O'Grady was remembered in the winners' enclosure at Leopardstown today as her husband trainer Edward O'Grady's trained Slippery Serpent won the concluding Red Bean Roastery (Q.R.) Maiden, poignantly, in the colours of the Friends Of Maria Syndicate.

Jockey Conor Orr held the son of Scorpion up in mid-division before sending him to the front in the home straight and in the end scored a length and a quarter success over the staying-on Tornado Watch

After the race, O'Grady commented “the late Maria, my lovely wife, had just put that syndicate together virtually days before her tragic accident. It's very poignant and I'm really thrilled that the horse has won for all the kind people who went into her syndicate."

Regarding Slippery Serpent, he added “when he ran here at Christmas he chipped a bone in his knee and this was his first run back.

"We were hoping that he would just run well and make a plan for him after that and I still have to make a plan but he'll have a bright future I hope as a hurdler and a chaser.

“Maybe we might even run him in another flat race providing he's sound and well after it.”

Quotes from Alan Magee