Perhaps it is just as well that racehorse Dorans Pride was heading to Limerick as the celebrations over his Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup win at Leopardstown got under way at Pings Chinese restaurant in south Dublin.
Goodness knows how much such an equine appetite would have added to the original £3,338 bill presented to his owner, Tom Doran.
Dublin District Court was treated to a mouth-watering description of the dishes served at Pings in Stillorgan as the restaurant owner sought to have Mr Doran pay the contrastingly unappetising bill of £2,841.50. This had been reduced from £3,338 after Mr Doran protested.
As Judge Michael O'Leary was given a copy of the menu, talk of prawn toast, spare ribs, roast duck and seaweed made courtroom No 49 a hungry place to be. However, at the end of it all, Judge O'Leary decided the restaurant had failed to substantiate its claim and dismissed the case.
Mr Doran, whose offer of £1,800 in cash to Pings had been turned down on the night, offered to split a payment of £1,500 between two charities of his choice. Mr Spencer Wong, the restaurant owner, left empty-handed.
The wine bill of £1,032.50 - for 35 bottles of Chablis Premier Cru - was disallowed at an early stage by the judge, after Mr Wong accepted that the then manager who had taken the wine order was not there to give evidence.
Mr John Boland, for the defence, put it to Mr Wong that it was a very large bill. "For 76 people it is not," Mr Wong replied. "We have had bills for £4,000 and £5,000."
Mr Wong accepted that the till roll for beer, spirits and soft drinks could not be found. So had the beers cost £2.50 each, Mr Boland wanted to know. "Yes," Mr Wong confirmed. "Dear oh dear," sighed Mr Boland.
Asked why such a hefty bill simply contained a number of "squiggles", Mr Wong said the billing system presented on the receipt had been in use at the restaurant for a long time.
"In fairness Mr Wong, how can anybody be expected to stump up £3,000 on a bill with as little detail as that?" said Mr Boland.
It wasn't that Mr Doran was not used to large restaurant bills either. Last Christmas a meal for 22 at Pings cost him £504, which he was happy to pay. And he was relieved of £1,631 after taking a party of 96 to the Golden Valley restaurant in Cheltenham following the Gold Cup, in which Dorans Pride came third.
At Pings, Mr Doran had said he wanted to spend much more on his party after he was shown what he thought was a bill for £338. That was before he was asked to read it again.