The Night Philotimo Won The Laurels Poem by Francis Duggan

The night Philotimo won the Laurels the memory with me still
The cheers that rang in Western Road might be heard in Cockhill
And Con Kelleher was beaming this night he'd lived to see
When the son of Pride of Corrin raced to great victory.

We cheered when Tanyard Heather raced quickly to renown
When Pat Cashman brought the Laurels to Tullig by Millstreet Town
And now it was Con Kelleher's turn he stood in the spotlight
And not one to begrudge the man his greatest ever night

The night Philotimo won the Laurels we witnessed something great
And Millstreet had another big race win to celebrate
Another champion dog from Millstreet which came as no surprise
Had won the Laurels at Cork Track Cork's biggest racing prize.

To the night Philotimo won the Laurels one must go back in time
And I was only twenty then and coming to my prime
And now I'm over fifty and what hair I've left is gray
But happy memories from the past seem never far away.

The night Philotimo won the Laurels we watched a legend grow
And dogs like him are very rare as greyhound owners know
In under thirty seconds he raced to victory
And the feats of flier from Cockhill live on in memory.