Lucy, Eva and Niamh were three ‘sweet young things’ among the crowds at the Tramore Races on August 15th. None of the girls had a clue what to back as they knew nothing about horses other than they had four legs and a tail!
But as they looked at the horses in the parade ring, Lucy noticed that her parish priest was in among the owners, trainers and jockeys and then, to her amazement, he appeared to be giving one of the horses a surreptitious blessing.
The girls decided to play it cool and hold on to their money. But when the horse in question won at 4-1 they were back in the enclosure for the next race watching the priest like hawks.
“There he is, he’s at it again,” hissed Eva, and they saw the priest giving another horse a special blessing when he thought nobody was looking.
When the animal won at 6-1, the girls decided they would put all their money on the next horse he blessed.
They got 10-1 on the beautiful grey mare the priest blessed and they were in high spirits and already counting their winnings as the race started. Sadly, their choice came in last before collapsing and dying on the spot!
Later, as they spent their last few euro in the bar, the girls bumped into the parish priest who was in great form. Unable to resist giving him an earful for leading them up the wrong path, they berated him for his mistake.
“Girls,” smiled the priest, “I’m sorry for your troubles but, if you spent a little more time at Mass on Sunday mornings instead of sleeping on in bed, you might know the difference between a Blessing and the Last Rites!”
