Paddy Power has taken direct aim at Boris Johnson with a hilarious banner at the Dublin Racing Festival.
The Irish bookmaker has housed a major sign on an entire balcony housing VIP guests at the Leopardstown meeting.
“It’s like a party in No 10" can be seen towering over the track that will see thousands of punters return to the iconic racecourse this weekend.
The dig came within 24 hours of a fifth member of Johnson’s senior staff resigning from their post, leaving few in doubt about who they were poking fun at following Johnson’s recent troubles.
And the bookie, who sponsor today’s feature race, the €250,000 Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup, didn’t miss the opportunity to have some fun as pressure continues to mount on the PM who faces a potential leadership challenge – all in the shadow of ongoing investigations by the Metropolitan Police into several alleged breaches of lockdown rules at No.10.
And the jab wasn’t lost on punters as they lapped up the party atmosphere at the first Irish horse racing festival to get underway without restricted numbers.
“We spent €250k sponsoring the big race just so we could say we were at a ‘work event’ if things got sticky. We lumped in a €150k bonus for the winner if they go on to land the Cheltenham Gold Cup to cover us for that ‘work trip’ too.
“But thankfully we won’t need to resort to that now following the lifting of many restrictions in recent weeks, and we’re delighted to see punters letting their hair down as things finally get back to normal for racing fans. If any of the market leaders, Kemboy, English raider Frodon or Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Minella Indo win, there’ll be a party to rival anything ever seen at Downing Street in Leopardstown today,” spokesman Paddy Power said.
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