WOODBINE, Canada-based Irish jockey Davy Moran and his family headed to Philadelphia recently to attend a mass held by Pope Francis on his visit to the United States.

Moran is a son of Templemore publican Eddie Moran, head of the Eddie Joe Syndicate who owned Irish National winner Davids Lad. The horse was named after Davy. Moran was a rising star with the Jim Bolger stable before moving to Canada.

Moran took time off from racing to join his wife Maria and seven kids - William, Pietro, Angela, Evan, Matteo, Maria and Sara - aged seven months to 12 years, in Philadelphia to attend the World Meeting of Families celebrations, the highlight being a mass by Pope Francis.

The native of Drom, Co Tipperary said attending mass with the Pope with his family was a once in a lifetime experience and certainly worth missing a day’s earnings at the track.

“We were a bit nervous about taking all the kids down, but they behaved really well and it was a huge experience for them, an experience I think they’ll never forget,” said Moran. “And I hope it does a bit of good in their life. There were over one million people there,” he added. “He’s a great Pope. He doesn’t judge anybody.’’

Davy is having a good year at Woodbine, sitting seventh in the rider standings with 47 wins and over $2.5 million in purse earnings.

In 2002, as a teenager, Moran travelled to Toronto from his native Ireland - long before he decided to ride full-time at Woodbine - to attend World Youth Day and pray at a mass conducted by Pope John Paul II. He also travelled to Spain in 2010 to see the last pope, Benedict XVI. Moran grew up a Catholic but said it has been in the last few years since starting a family that his faith has really taken hold.

“I see now how much it helps you, especially in the world today. Everything is money and business and power and sometimes you have to put other things first before all this,” said Moran. “Everybody here, the trainers, the riders, really respected my decision to go. I was very pleasantly surprised,” said Moran. “The response was amazing and that felt nice because you’re always worried about how people might react to something like that.”