The victory of Rogue Angel in the Guinness Kerry National at Listowel on Wednesday was the highlight of last week’s racing action.

The weather interrupted the Harvest Festival, which got into full swing on Wednesday with the Kerry National providing a heart-warming success for Mouse Morris. The trainer lost his son Christopher a few months ago and this was a triumph that was underpinned by poignancy and emotion.

The biggest winner in the career of jockey Ger Fox, Rogue Angel had previously promised to pick up a decent prize somewhere and relished making all the running just three days after taking second in a handicap chase on the opening day of the meeting. This victory for Mouse Morris came some 40 years after he rode Black Mac to win the race for Brian Lusk.

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Despite the testing conditions at Listowel, there were still a couple of performances of note. Both were supplied by Curragh trainer Willie McCreery, who remains a coming force among the ranks of the country’s leading flat trainers.

The trainer’s Irish 1000 Guineas third Devonshire bagged a well-deserved listed prize over nine furlongs on Wednesday. Her ability to handle slow ground will stand her in good stead for the rest of the season.

Elsewhere, McCreery’s Fact or Folklore turned in a cracking effort to come from a decidedly unpromising position in the valuable Guinness Handicap on Friday. This daughter of Lope De Vega is a very effective soft-ground performer and the manner in which she overcame a less than ideal passage through the race at Listowel would indicate that she has a future at stakes level.