EMOTIONS ran high at Plumpton after Andy Irvine trained his first winner since the death of his wife and former trainer Zoe Davison.
Mr Jack, who also won at Plumpton on the day Davison died after a lengthy battle with cancer, bagged the finale as the 3-1 second favourite in an incredibly poignant moment on Monday.
In a moving post-race interview, Irvine revealed his wife of three years Davison had been buried by the gallops at their yard in East Grinstead just yesterday.
Irvine said: “It is very emotional, we buried Zoe yesterday.
“It was a difficult day but a lovely day at the same time.
“We brought her home and she is buried at the top of the gallops which is where she wanted to be buried.
“We had a nice service with the family, it was really special. I’m sure if we could have invited people there would have been hundreds of people there.
“I rolled he gallop this morning and stopped and said good morning to her which was really nice.”
Mr Jack is the first winner the yard have sent out since Davidson’s sad passing on January 3.
Irvine continued: “This means the world to everybody. It’s been a big team effort. It’s really important for us to keep the show on the road.
“To have the first winner is great, and we have got some really nice horses as well.
“It’s the horse that won the day that she died, so it’s beautiful.
“It means an awful lot. The racing industry have been great to us and it’s been a great comfort.”
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