Offaly forward Eoin Sawyer
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26 Jan 2026
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26 Jan 2026
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Matt Connor with owners in Naas on Sunday.
MATT Connor the footballer was no stranger to winning enclosures and delivering big performance on the biggest days with the stakes sky high.
And Matt Connor, the horse named in tribute to the Walsh Island man's footballing excellence, is following in those vaunted footsteps.
The Offaly owned horse had a great win in the Albert Bartlett Triple Crown Series Qualifier in Naas on Sunday, ensuring a very financially productive afternoon for his owners. Some of them were watching on as he raced clear from the field to win by six lengths – and the margin of victory could have been much wider, such was his superiority in the race.
Racing in the colours of his owner, Birr business man Adrian Sheils, Matt Connor may now be entered into the Cheltenham festival. He won at 14-1 on Sunday, having drifted out from sevens in the morning and has been in encouraging form lately.
Initially owned by a syndicate of sports fans from across the wider South Offaly area, Matt Connor was sold to Adrian Sheils last year and showed his potential when finishing a very good fourth at Leopardstown before Christmas. He first won in Cork in April 2023, following up with a win at Fairyhouse a few weeks later. Now trained by JP Dempsey, he was a 9-2 winner at Limerick last October.
SEE NEXT: Offaly football managers happy with performance but realistic about prospects
Adrian Sheils is well known in Birr and has sponsored Birr GAA Club in recent years through his company Pro Spray Foam Insulations. Matt Connor wears the Birr colours, green and red – the initial syndicate decided to name him for one of Offaly's greatest footballers: Matt Connor was the star forward on the 1982 All-Ireland senior football champions, winning Leinster senior football medals in 1980, '81 and '82 and Leinster U21 in 1977 and 1979 as well as six in a row Senior Football Championships in a row.
He has attended a race with the horse named for him as a guest and keeps a keen interest in his progress.
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