THE Pat Smullen Raceday at the Curragh goes from strength to strength.

Last Saturday’s edition, which featured the Coast to Curragh cycle, a lunch, charity race, and an online auction, along with donations, is believed to have raised in excess of €200,000 for Cancer Trials Ireland.

Frances Crowley commented: “I have to sincerely thank everyone who took part in the Cancer Trials Ireland raceday at the Curragh in memory of Pat. Whether people took part in the cycle, came to the lunch, donated or purchased an auction item, donated money, volunteered their time to help, or were one of the amazing 13 riders in the Cancer Trials Ireland charity race, please know that your contribution will continue to make a huge difference to pancreatic cancer research. Pat would be very proud that his legacy is being continued.”

The day began with approximately 100 cyclists arriving in front of the grandstand, having set off from Laytown at 9.30am. This is the third year of the Coast to Curragh Cycle, organised by Gavin Lynch, in memory of his late mum, Olive, who - like Pat Smullen - was taken by pancreatic cancer. The cyclists stopped at Bellewstown, Fairyhouse, Moyglare Stud, Naas and Punchestown, before being clapped home by A.P. McCoy and their friends and families at the Curragh.

Paddy Power is the main sponsor of the cycle and the bookmaker also sponsored the day’s main race, the Irish Cambridgeshire, with the sponsorship fee donated to the charity.

A total of 180 guests sat down to lunch in the Oaks Restaurant where Bernard Jackman acted as MC. Professor Ray McDermott and Eibhlín Mulroe of Cancer Trials Ireland spoke briefly at the lunch, emphasising how the project started by Pat Smullen in 2019 was now yielding tangible benefits for cancer patients. The recent creation of the Pat Smullen Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at UCD - a five-year commitment costing €900,000 - was highlighted as a very signficant development in the treatment of the disease, not only in Ireland but around the world.

Frances Crowley was hiding her nerves during lunch, ahead of daughter Hannah Smullen’s participation in the charity race named in memory of Pat and sponsored by Eamon Waters’ Grafton Hotel.

The racecard contained profiles of all 13 charity race riders and their backstories made for fascinating reading. All had been touched by cancer in some way and most were riding in honour of a lost loved one. Two riders were cancer survivors themselves, while Katherine Gordon Quayle travelled to the Curragh to take part from Wiltshire where she works as a research nurse with patients diagnosed with cancer of the liver or pancreas. It’s believed the 13 riders raised more than €100,000 between them.

As widely expected, the charity race was won by Kate Harington aboard The Very Man but she had to keep the recent Shergar Cup winner up to his work to hold off Ber Fahey on Bukhill. Kate’s mum Jessie is recovering from breast cancer and Kate was riding in memory of her father John who fought liver cancer for a year before passing away in 2014.

At 9pm on Saturday the online auction ended and another €65,365 had been added to the kitty. There were 21 items on offer and two of them fetched the top price of €7,000. The most prized lots were four premium tickets for Coldplay at Croke Park and dinner for 12 in your own home prepared by chef Martin Shanahan from Kinsale’s Fishy Fishy restaurant.

You can still make a donation, however small, by scanning the QR code on this page.