– Life along the Slaney

Big Zeb in action

This week saw the Irish national holiday celebrated in style in Gorey but it is still a matter of debate which event on St. Patrick’s Day garnered the bigger crowd.

As the men and women of the Tara Rock’s Social Club were hard at work churning butter and turning wood on their award winning float in the 30th Gorey St. Patrick’s Day Parade another son of Gorey was hundreds of miles away winning a race with a most un-Irish name.

Gorey-trained and owned Big Zeb stormed to victory in the Queen Mother Champion Chase at the Cheltenham Racecourse, romping home at the price of ten to one.

The parade kicked off at 3pm and as it wound its way down Main Street and onto Esmonde Street, the amount of people covertly checking their watches grew. Men with children on their shoulders and women with buggies all looked furtively around as Gorey Active Retirement paraded past with their version of Snow White and the Seventy Dwarfs.

Among the thousands of people lining the street watching their friends and family celebrating the nation’s patron saint, there was surely a large number with a couple of euro each-way on Big Zeb.

Outside Bronagh Stafford told the crowd she was proud so many of them had shown up to celebrate the 30th running of the parade. Inside the pubs and bookmakers things were a little tenser.

“Zeb’s never jumped well in England.” “Barry [Geraghty] will do it alright, he’s been down here schooling him.” “The ground will suit him.”

Everyone had an opinion and they were all right. It’s amazing how many racehorse experts come out of the woodwork for the Cheltenham festival. In Gorey it was no different and people spoke in hushed whispers on mobile phone, as if they had a direct line to Big Zeb himself and were ascertaining his mood.

People who may have never before set foot in a bookies tried to look like they knew what they were doing but the fact they were checking the runners and riders in the 5.45pm in Darlington gave the game away.

However everyone was in buoyant mood being the day that was in it and those needing a little help were pointed in the right direction and shown the secrets of writing out the betting slips. Big Zeb was the big bet and the people of Gorey remained loyal to one of their own.

While the crowds loudly cheered on the participants in the parade outside, a hush descended on the bars and bookies around Gorey.

As the horses lined up for the off, the Wexford colours worn by Barry Geraghty were the focus of all eyes watching the race in Gorey.

The crowds watching the parade seemed to have diminished somewhat at about 3.19pm. Children wandered the streets with the faces painted and green hats on but with their parents nowhere to be seen.

For the first circuit of the famous course there was silence while people tried to get a sense of the race and how things were going. It was good for Big Zeb, he was going well and looked in control.

As the final stages of the race approached and the jockeys jockeyed for position, one calm authorative voice from the corner announced “Big Zeb’s got it.” That was the cue for the rest of us to start screaming at the TVs clutching our betting slips for dear life.

As it became clear the Colm Murphy-trained, Paddy Redmond-owned horse was indeed going to win, people abandoned all decorum and hugged those next to them and punched the air as if they’d won the lottery.

After the race as the celebrations died down and punters went to the counter with smug looks of satisfaction and knowing winks to each other, they made their way back outside where the celebrations for Paddy’s Day continued.