Quizical heading back to the Curragh

PA Sport Reporters
March 22, 2020 11:45 am

Lavery ace starred under McCoy on memorable afternoon in September.

Sheila Lavery expects her charity race hero Quizical to be “really competitive” in the Paddy Power Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh on Saturday.

The son of Roderic O’Connor will be forever be remembered as the horse who landed the Pat Smullen Champions Race For Cancer Trials Ireland at the Curragh on Irish Champions Weekend last September – striking gold in the hands of Sir Anthony McCoy.

Reflecting on that memorable occasion, which raised over 2.5million euro for Cancer Trials Ireland, Lavery said: “It was just an amazing, brilliant day – the whole atmosphere and bringing the jockeys together was superb.

“I suppose winning it topped it off, but being a part of it was a major part of the enjoyment.”

Since that triumph, Quizical has made three appearances, most recently scoring at Leopardstown in October – and Lavery is looking forward to his return to action at the home of Irish Flat racing.

She added: “I think it took him ages to come into form before Leopardstown and when we had been running him, he hadn’t really got his ground. The more racing and work the better he gets and he’s in great form.

“He’s an ideal candidate for the Irish Lincolnshire. I think he goes on any ground from yielding to soft as long as it’s not tacky – I don’t think he likes that at all.

“I think given the way the ground is, the feeling is he should be really competitive.

“I’d love to have given him a racecourse gallop, but that’s not going to happen, but we’re lucky to be racing so I’m not going to whinge.”