Mayo For Sam was a topical winner at Gowran today ahead of tomorrow's All-Ireland football final, ending a manageable 49-day losing spell in the Get Galway Races Ready With tote.ie Apprentice Handicap.

Named in support of County Mayo's quest to lift a first Sam Maguire Cup in now 73 years, the Ado McGuinness-trained filly is a model of consistency and today followed up a recent Navan success when scoring under jockey Daniel King.

McGuinness quipped “we ran her the other night but she just can't seem to win down in Mayo! She ran well in Ballinrobe but the ground probably went against her and we were over 1m5f. I felt this was probably her right trip and Dan was very good on her - he didn't panic.”

He added “I thought the handicapper had her and we couldn't get her into Galway, so we said we'd come here and it's after working out.

“She is what she is but she's very genuine and I'd say she'll jump a hurdle in time as well. There is a lot of fun to be had with her and it's great to have these type of horses too. The boys are great bunch of lads, Brendan (Geraghty) owns her and if she gets into Galway the boys will go, as they are west of Ireland lads.”

Tomorrow's All-Ireland involves Galway and Armagh, with the Mayo side this year exiting at the preliminary Quarter-Final in June.

Quotes from Gary Carson