Symbolism, Oirish style

It's Galway race week.  This nugget from Wednesday's Irish Times (reg. req'd):

Two centuries of Irish history collided in the first race at Ballybrit last night, when a horse called Ocras Mor could finish only third behind a well-fancied winner, The Posh Paddy.
 
For our readers lacking the cupla focal, Ocras Mor means The Great Hunger, i.e. the Famine.