POOR jockey Stephen Connor will never live down the finish of this bumper as he eased up his mount early to throw away victory.
And he also saw £35,000 go up in flames in the process.
Gary O'Brien and @Ruby_Walsh try and make sense of what happened in the closing stages of the finale at Leopardstown. #DRF pic.twitter.com/jASUSVTS39
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 1, 2026
Connor had done all the hard work on the fast-finishing Royal Hillsborough in Sunday’s concluding bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival.
She ploughed through the sodden ground to head a wandering Moonverrin as TikTok Casey ran out of gas against the rail.
But Connor misjudged the finishing line and thought the 50-yard marker was the post.
It meant he eased his mount up early as 20-1 Moonverrin, who was ridden by Finian Maguire, switched on again and charged home to win by a short head.
There are agonising, gut-wrenching losses – and then there is this.
Victory would have been Connor’s if he had just kept to work on his mount – and now he faces a big ban.
Commentating on TV, legendary jockey Ruby Walsh said the error will live long in the jockey’s head.
He said: “He’ll get a long suspension but it won’t be that that hurts, it will be his action.
“Royal Hillsborough should have won but hasn’t won. I do feel sorry for him.
“Humans make mistakes and that’s a big mistake.”
And it proved massively costly as well.
The difference between first and second was £35,000 (€40,000).
All in all it meant Hassett and his team landed a cheque for €59,000 while trainer of the second Simon Crawford went home with €19,000.
Winning trainer Martin Hassett: “I saw it all but don’t ask me what happened!
“I’ll have to look at it a couple of times at home – but this is for all the boys at home!
“I’m finding it hard to talk. I just don’t know what happened.
“I thought we were third. I thought we were second. We just got up on the line. Jesus.”
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