A record crowd at Old Chapel added to the excitement of All-Ireland Day 2004, making it a day to remember for all in attendance. Local supporters joined with fans from all over the British Isles, as jockies John Sheehy and John McSweeney cleaned up, with two and three wins respectively. Denis Cremin also landed a win. "Casey B" was given the title of "Best Turned Out" and the Old Chapel Race Committee made a presentation to Milbrook Hospital. Here is a brief look at each race:
Novice: John Sheehy's mount "Back on the Road" went off as ½ Favourite in this but failed to show, as Hard Times took the lead and won easily by 8 lengths, with jockey John McSweeney aboard, to take the Bryan Wilson Cup.
Grade E: Hot on a win after Goleen, Geraldine McCarthy's "Twenty 4 Seven" was always going to be favourite in this and went off at 4/5. From the start, jockey John Sheehy, partnering Twenty 4 Seven, took the lead and the pair were never seriously threatened, winning by 1 ½ lengths from Ned Forbes' Clodagh's Choice, and Chris Galvin's runner "Teadie's Pride" a further 2 lengths back in third.
Grade B: This was a race for the bookmakers, as race-favourite Coalford Connection was introduced as 5/4 favourite, but John McSweeney's mount broke badly at the off and was never in contention as the race progressed. Harry Bennett's Sunny Dancer, fresh from his victory at Goleen, landed the laurels, with Billy Baron 10 lengths behind and Red Governor a further ½ length back taking third place.
Grade D Going off as 4/5 Favourite, the John O'Donovan owned "Speedy Spur" - with Jockey John Sheehy aboard - brought smiles to the punters faces once again, when he won the Grade D by 4 lengths from Cole's Decision, with Fleet I Am finishing ahead of Springhill Hightower and Coalford Samuari.
Grade C: Jack Manning's Staley Princed, another race favourite, took the honours in this, landing a 4 length win from Ger Carey's Gold Fella. This race gave jockey John McSweeney another win in what was to be a treble on the day. Ger Cooke's Matt Murphy, with Maurice Fleming on board, took third place.
All Ireland 2004 . Race-Favourite Stoneriggs Rascal lead the pack in the opening stages, but was closely followed by Angelo Hannon's Hello Fella and Harry Bennett's Black in a Flash. The Shanahan owned Morfa Duke and Doyle's Peak's Prophet began to improve after the first turn, as the race begun to heat up. On the final run, it was Morfa Duke who was most impressive. In what was an exciting display for the spectators, Morfa Duke landed his fourth All-Ireland title - shattering the hopes of Stoneriggs Rascal and Peak's Prophet. This was the final installment of a treble for jockey John McSweeney.