Frankie Dettori retains the Barney Curley DAFA Charity Cup

Despite the worst of the weather with Storm Agnes, Wednesday’s Barney Curley DAFA Charity Cup proved a great day of racing.

Defending champion Frankie Dettori once again went head to head with Willie Mullins with two seven-jockey teams competing for points to win the cup.

It was Willie McCreery-trained Mogwli under Wesley Joyce that won the first race of the cup, with local jockey Robert Whearty riding Rampage home in second.

The stormy conditions unfortunately meant the second race of the cup could not be run due to deteriorating ground conditions, but with Dettori’s convincing lead it would have been a challenge for Willie Mullins to make the comeback had the race gone ahead.

Admission on the day was generously sponsored by the Irish National Bookmakers Association, who also presented a cheque for €5,000 to DAFA. This generous donation, along with many others on the day, will add to the already humbling total of €70,000 raised by a golf event at the famous Baltray golf links the previous day.  

Frankie Dettori, a long-time supporter of DAFA, commented, "It's great to commemorate Barney's life and his charity. It's great to keep it going and to keep supporting it. We had a great day of golf yesterday and racing today. I'm glad about that, I think we have this day in the calendar set in stone now and we want to keep the tradition going."

Huge thanks to Frankie and Willie, all the jockeys who rode in such tough conditions, their support teams, the racegoers, staff, our Tuesday golfers, and to race sponsors Gannon City Recovery & Recycling Services Ltd and The Gallagher Group for their continued support and generosity.  

We’re already looking forward to next year!