1980

EDDIE Macken’s best ever horse, Carrolls Boomerang, has been retired after breaking a bone in his foot last Sunday. The 13-year-old gelding is thought to have been the world’s leading money winner, having earned over £150,000.

Carrolls Boomerang was being prepared for the Dublin Horse Show when he broke down at Macken’s stables near Kells. “Eddie had insurance for him, both for loss of use and for mortality,” a spokesman for Carrolls said.

During his spectacular career Carrolls Boomerang won 26 Grand Prix, the Hamburg Derby, and hundreds of other competitions. Only last year he went to Calgary, Canada, competed in five competitions and won all of them. The partnership was beaten by only a fraction of a second for the World Show Jumping Championship.

Last March Carrolls signed a contract with Macken to sponsor all the horses in his stable for the next five years.