THERE were two honours for Limerick at Monday evening’s annual Horse Racing Ireland Awards.
JP McManus was given the 2022 Contribution To The Industry award, while Billy Lee won the Flat award.
McManus is a 19-time champion National Hunt owner in Ireland and has been associated with many of the top jumps’ horses for over 40 years, enjoying well in excess of 4,000 winners.
The legendary Istabraq was a three-time winner of the Champion Hurdle, a race JP McManus also won on five other occasions, while the Cheltenham Gold Cup went his way with Synchronised and there was Aintree Grand National glory with Don’t Push It and Minella Times.
Billy Lee, meanwhile continues to be a regular visitor to the winners enclosure. This week he won 12-furlong handicap on the Andy Oliver-trained Cold Steel. A well-supported 9/2 shot, the Team Valor-owned four-year-old held off the late run of the David Broad-trained Turf Range to score by half a length.
From the Limerick Leader.