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Super-sub Lee says Follow Me and his partner obliges

Follow Me, left, utilises the far railFollow Me, left, utilises the far rail
© Photo Healy Racing

Billy Lee was at his paint-stripping best aboard Follow Me in the Finlay Volvo Handicap over seven furlongs at the Curragh.

He had plenty of horse underneath him approaching the final quarter of a mile, but there wasn't a lot of room to operate in.

He switched him to the far rail a furlong and a half out and the pair got a seam to close inside the final furlong.

It was still far from easy as they had to negotiate a path on the inner of the leader Transcending Glory but did that to catch him 50 yards from home.

A remarkable journey ended with a three-parts of a length success to justify 4/1 favouritism. Transcending Glory had to settle for second at 16/1 and was a length in front of Gunzburg (18/1).

Ross O'Sullivan said: “He's a fair horse, everything went wrong that could go wrong and he still weaved his way through.

“Three down I was like 'oh no', it was like watching a horror movie. Billy was so cool on him, he got his spots and got out.

“It's onwards and upwards with him, it's exciting to have him. They are two lovely horses (Dance Night Andday who won yesterday) that have won this weekend.

“They both worked on Tuesday morning and you'd think coming here that both of them would run well, but you'd hardly think on Guineas weekend both of them would win.

“Tom Malone bought him in France and it was a great buy for Amanda (Torrens). Unfortunately, she couldn't be here today, she had to go to the north for another engagement.

“She was roaring the phone down and she's delighted.

“We'll see what the handicapper does, he's 93 today and, if there was another handicap on Derby weekend that we could eke out of him, that's a possibility.

“He's very versatile ground-wise and it's just lovely to have a good horse.

“He's a big horse with loads of scope. When he came off the lorry to us, and given his two-year-old form, he came off like a big scopey horse and not a horse that was all about two.

“He's simple enough at home, likes his routine. I feel sorry for Shane Foley as he's ridden all his work and won his maiden on him. He was mad to ride him but had to ride for Jessie (Harrington) and then that horse (Matter Of Fact) was taken out. He is Shane's ride.”

Additional reporting by Gary Carson

1st
4/1Fav
Tote €5.00 €1.80
2nd
0.75L
16/1
€3.40
3rd
1L
18/1
€6.30
4th
0.5L
8/1
About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.