Jockey flown from Listowel to Fairyhouse in time for winning ride

A young jockey was flown from Listowel to Fairyhouse on Monday afternoon — arriving with just minutes to spare before going on to land the opening race at the Meath track.

Sam Coen was competing at the Listowel Harvest Festival but needed to make the journey to Fairyhouse to take up his ride on Shesthedevil for trainer Patrick Magee.

Former jockey Sean Flanagan, who now works as a pilot, flew Coen from Listowel to Fairyhouse, with Fairyhouse Racecourse sharing footage of their arrival at the track on social media.

Coen had just finished second on Zaraahmando at Listowel before making the unusual dash north by air.

He arrived at Fairyhouse in time to partner two-year-old Shesthedevil in the Winter Festival Early Bird Ticket Claiming Race, a seven-furlong contest.

And the journey proved well worth it.

Coen and Shesthedevil hit the front with around a furlong and a half to run and held on strongly in the closing stages to win by half a length and a head.

The victory was Coen’s 23rd of the season, and came after he admitted he had been frustrated by his earlier Listowel ride.

“I had no luck in Listowel earlier, but thankfully I made it up here for this,” he said afterwards.

Speaking about Shesthedevil, Coen said the horse had “a good look” when she got to the front but was “tough to the line”.

“She loves that ground,” he added, noting that she had previously won over six furlongs at Navan on similar going.

The unusual journey came as Flanagan has been juggling his work as a pilot with the busy Listowel racing week, earning the pair some attention for the airborne dash between the two racecourses.