Prendergast still saddling winners, but not in his name

PATRICK Prendergast has no immediate plans to renew his trainer’s licence despite saddling a host of big race winners this season for overseas trainers.

Prendergast shocked the racing world in early 2019 when he announced he was relinquishing his licence and joining John Oxx’s team. Among the horses he brought with him was Skitter Skatter, the champion two-year-old filly of 2018 and a Group 1 winner.

The new alliance did not produce a significant upturn in the fortunes of the Oxx yard but in this most unusual year Prendergast found his services in demand again. He explained: “I am on the board of Leopardstown Racecourse and there was a discussion early in the year as to how we would handle runners from abroad. There was no template for this but I offered to help out and the first English horse which arrived at my yard was Art Power, who won the Group 3 at Naas for Tim Easterby.”

Prendergast is well known in English racing circles, having worked in Newmarket, and other English trainers were soon in touch with him when they wanted to have runners in Ireland. Glass Slippers, winner of the Group 1 Flying Five at the Curragh, was among those Prendergast welcomed into his yard and was saddled by him at the races.

“It got so busy I had to get other trainers on board,” he says. “Dick Brabazon, Darren Bunyan and J.J. Hayden helped out too and we had no major issues all season, even when the protocols were tightened up.”

The typical scenario is that the visiting horsebox drives into the Prendergast yard but the driver stays in the cab. Patrick and his staff unload the horse and the driver leaves for his accommodation where he stays until it is time to collect the horse and go home.

“I had some very good horses here this year and it’s a big ask for a trainer and the horse’s loyal groom to hand them over. Luckily I have very good staff here.”

But the buzz of saddling another Group 1 winner, even if it wasn’t his own, has not tempted Prendergast to renew his licence. “I wouldn’t rule it out at some stage, but at the moment it wouldn’t seem to make sense with all the uncertainty.”