FIVE weeks without racing hasn’t erased Eddie Lynam’s good sense of humour. Yes, he’s missing the racing but he’s excited at the thought of the Premier League restarting in June.
“Manchester United are my team and it will suit our defenders, because they have been social distancing themselves from corner kicks all season,” he deadpans.
Like the rest of us, Eddie is keen to get back racing but, like Richard Hughes on Sole Power, he doesn’t want the sport to hit the front too soon. “I’ve been in racing all my working life but at the moment the health of the country is more important. I would rather regret restarting two weeks late than two weeks too early.
“I would be very slow to jump up and down, screaming ‘why aren’t we racing?’, like some trainers in England. We’ve got this far and when the lockdown is lifted I’d love to think we are doing it for the right reasons. The last thing we want is to start and then be stopped again. Racing is very lucky in that we had a practice run at staging meetings behind closed doors and it worked well.”
Eddie and his daughter Sarah both train out of Garrettstown House in Dunshaughlin, Co Meath. Life may be strange for all of us these days but Eddie admits there are others far worse off. “Everybody here’s well and we’re having a nicer time than a lot of people. We’re working in the fresh air, the weather has been very kind and we’re just keeping the horses exercised.
“The only thing bothering me is that I need a haircut. And that’s a strange thing for me to be saying.”
No fast work
The string canters every day but you won’t see one burning up the gallops at the moment. “We’ve stopped fast work until we get news that racing is back on. We don’t know when that will be and we don’t know what races will be programmed. Maybe we will get good news on May 5th and there will be racing within a week. If that happens, our horses will be a bit behind, they’d need one or two bits of work.
“But if you had been galloping your horses all through April and then you find out we won’t be racing until June, it wouldn’t be a good place to be. So it doesn’t make sense to me to do any fast work until you know what races are on and when. I might have a different view if I had classic contenders or I was revving up the likes of Sole Power for a big race.”
It’s six years since Eddie sent over Sole Power and Slade Power to win two Group 1 sprints at Royal Ascot. In between he won the Queen Mary with Anthem Alexander. Three winners from four runners at the biggest meeting in the world.
At the moment there wouldn’t appear to be a Group 1 horse in the yard. Soffia won at Group 2 level last season but she was sold and is reported to have been covered by Frankel this year. “She was a grand filly to have. She won the Bold Lad as a three-year-old and we were hoping she might get some blacktype at four, but what she did was beyond our wildest dreams.
“Her first win at four came in the (Listed) Sole Power race at Naas, which was very apt. Then she won the (Group 3) Ballyogan and was very impressive in the (Group 2) Sapphire. She disappointed in the Flying Five but she still ended the season as Ireland’s champion older filly over sprint distances.”
Eddie and Aileen have taken horses to the very top in the past and hopefully they will again. The only thing better than that would be if Amy bought it and Sarah trained it.
It could easily happen.
Four to follow
Romantic Proposal (IRE)
4yo b f (322411-)
Raven’s Pass – Playwithmyheart
Clipper Logistics
Like Soffia, this filly was purchased by my daughter Amy as a foal. Joe Foley bought her for Steve Parkyn and they were good enough to send her back here. We won the May Hill for Steve with Agnes Stewart and hopefully this one will also get blacktype. She won twice at Cork last season and is now rated in the mid-80s. When fillies start to improve, you don’t know how high they will go. I’d be hopeful we could pick up one of those valuable EBF-sponsored handicaps. Seven furlongs is her trip. She likes good ground or a little ease.
Heavenly Power (IRE)
2yo b c
Dark Angel – Girl Power
Mrs S Power
This colt is a half-brother to Slade Power and is one to look forward to. We bred him in partnership with David and Sabena Power.
Collective Power
2yo b c
Slade Power – Gathering Power
This is a nice colt. We raced the dam as well as the sire. She won a premier handicap one day at Naas under Fergal Lynch. Another of ours was second that day, Boston Rocker. Gathering Power ended up with a rating of 102 and she got blacktype several times.
Hazard (GB)
3yo b c (4-)
Slade Power – Fatal Attraction
Kilboy Estate
I bought this one myself as a yearling for 55,000gns at Newmarket. He’s a half-brother to Take A Deep Breath, who finished second in the Group 3 Silver Flash Stakes for Michael O’Callaghan a few years ago.
We ran him once last backend and he was a very promising fourth. He’d be a nice maiden. The only thing wrong with him is his name, and that’s down to his owner, Shane Ryan, being a big Chelsea fan.