Mrs M H ‘Moya’ KEOGH
(1914 - 1997)
“White, green V back & front, gold cap”
Moya Keogh, wife of the Dublin businessmen M H ‘Harry’ Keogh, was the owner of the three-time Champion Hurdler, Hatton’s Grace. All the Keogh horses left Barney Nugent in the summer of 1948 to join Vincent O’Brien, then at Churchtown, Co Cork. Knock Hard, winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 1953, also raced in Mrs Keogh’s colours. Moya Keogh died on 27 December 1997.
Principal winners:
1949 Hatton’s Grace (Irish Lincoln/Irish Cesarewitch/Champion Hurdle), Castledermot (National Hunt Chase) M V O’Brien
1950 Hatton’s Grace (Irish Cesarewitch/Champion Hurdle) M V O’Brien
1951 Hatton’s Grace (Champion Hurdle) M V O’Brien
1953 Knock Hard (Cheltenham Gold Cup) M V O’Brien
Robert D’Arcy JAMESON
(1853-1927)
“Yellow, black sleeves & cap”
Senior Steward, Turf Club 1907
Senior Steward, INHSC 1897, 1914 & 1919
A member of the famous whiskey distilling family, Robert Jameson lived at Delvin Lodge, by the river Delvin in Gormanston. A member of the Turf Club and INHSC, he served as Senior Steward of both bodies but enjoyed little success as an owner. In 1890 he paid an Irish record 500gns for the yearling colt Croaghpatrick but the horse was a huge disappointment on the flat, failing to win in 14 outings at two and three years but was placed seven times in minor races. Croaghpatrick came good over fences as a four-year-old, winning four steeplechases, including the valuable Irish Champion Chase at Leopardstown, collecting £444 in stakes.
In 1901 Robert Jameson succeeded Matt Maher as Chairman of the Metropolitan Race Company, which controlled racing at Baldoyle, a position he held until 1925, when he resigned due to ill-health. His son, Henry D Jameson, is the subject of a well-known painting by the artist Sarah Cecilia Harrison.
Principal winners:
1884 Haycock (Ward Hunt Cup) Private
1893 Croaghpatrick (Irish Champion Chase) H Beasley
1899 Benhead (Drogheda Memorial) Private
William Joseph ‘Trousers’ KELLY
(1886-1969) Trainer
“Navy blue, green hoop, navy blue cap”
Leitrim-born proprietor of a menswear shop, firstly in Clanbrassil Street, subsequently in Grafton Street, Dublin – whence the nickname ‘Trousers’ – W.J. Kelly purchased Palmerstown House, Naas, from the Earls of Mayo in the late 1920s. There he bred and trained horses in a significant way, switching to stud farming following his purchase of The Solicitor as resident stallion in 1946. On selling the Palmerstown estate in 1955 to William Bullitt, who acquired the property for his daughter Anne Biddle, W J Kelly created his Dolly’s Grove Stud, Batterstown, where he stood his 1961 Stewards’ Cup winner, Skymaster, owned in partnership with Lord Derby.
Principal winners:
1934 Ca-Ca-Ce (Madrid) O/T
1936 Mrs K Kelly’s Matona (Irish
Cambridgeshire)
1941 Mrs M Mitchell’s Amor de Cuba (Galway Hurdle)
Daniel ‘Danny’ KINANE
(1923-2002) Jockey/Trainer
“Red, white sash, red cap, white spots”
Jockey/trainer
The eldest of three brothers to ride over jumps and then train, Danny Kinane trained Kilmore to numerous wins, sufficient to see him sold to Ryan Price for whom he won the 1962 Grand National. Danny trained his own ‘National’ winner when Packed Home carried off the Kerry National in 1964, ridden by his brother Christy Kinane and again in 1965.
Principal winners:
1964 Mrs J J Burns’ Packed Home
(Kerry National)
1965 Mrs J J Burns’ Packed Home
(Kerry National)
Miss Elizabeth Balfour Clark ‘Betty’ LAIDLAW
(d.1996)
“Black, white hoop on body & slvs, white cap with black spots”
A daughter of the Hon Thomas K Laidlaw, Betty Laidlaw lived at Diswellstown House, Castleknock, Co Dublin. She was the breeder of Dark Warrior, winner of the 1950 Irish Derby, Blue Wind, winner of the Oaks and Irish Oaks in 1981, Skoiter and Touch Paper. An Honorary Member of the Turf Club since 1989, her horses were kept at the family’s Abbey Lodge Stud in Castleknock, managed by her nephew Tom Laidlaw. Her grave is beside Black Abbey, in the grounds of the Irish National Stud, of which Betty Laidlaw was a director.
Principal winners
1958 Sauchrie (Anglesey) John Oxx
1961 Azurine (Royal Whip) John Oxx
James J ‘Jimmy’ LENEHAN
(1908 - 1985) Jockey/Trainer
Apprenticed to Tom Coombs in Osborne Lodge, Jimmy was one of four brothers to ride in public. The eldest, Paddy, was a leading amateur who boxed for Ireland in the 1928 Olympic Games. Kevin rode the winner of the Irish Grand National and John, an amateur, was killed in a fall at Clonmel in 1943. Switching to jumping in 1924, Jimmy Lenehan went to England to ride for Bob Gore and later for Teddy Martin before returning home on the latter’s retirement. He won the Irish Grand National on Jack Chaucer in 1940, retiring five years later to become assistant trainer to Hubert Hartigan at Melitta Lodge. Lenehan ran the yard during Hartigan’s final illness, taking complete control when he died.
His very first winner was Hugh Lupus in the Irish 2000 Guineas of 1955. Hugh Lupus missed the Epsom Derby through injury, but his jockey Rae Johnstone was convinced that he would have won that race had he remained sound. Jimmy Lenehan married a sister of Danny Morgan, the jockey and trainer. Their son, Jack, rode Milverton in the Irish Cesarewitch at the age of 11, after which the Turf Club changed the rules, prohibiting those under 14 from riding in races.
Principal winners as a jockey:
1940 Jack Chaucer (Grand National)
C Brabazon
1942 Point D’Atout (Galway Hurdle)
B Nugent
Principal winners as a trainer:
1955 Lady Ursula Vernon’s Hugh Lupus (Irish 2000 Guineas)
1961 M Sayers’ Cygne Noir (DH Galway Hurdle)
1962 J J Dolan’s Fair Astronomer (Cornwallis, Ascot/ Prix d’Ecleuse, Deauville)
1967 S Raccah’s Dan Kano (Ulster Derby/Irish St Leger)
Joseph LOWRY
(1835-1913)
“Shot brown”
An auctioneer from Kells, Co Meath, Joseph Lowry purchased the long-established Bachelor’s Lodge property near Navan in 1880 and turned it into a modern stud farm, which remained in the family for five generations. He used the prefix ‘Bachelor’s’ in the names of his horses, such as his home-bred Bachelor’s Button, winner of the 1901 National Produce Stakes. Sold to ‘Solly’ Joel, Bachelor’s Button won the Champion Stakes and the Ascot Gold Cup, in which he inflicted a sensational defeat on Pretty Polly.
Joseph Lowry won the Irish Derby with Killeagh, purchased from W W Kilroy, but his second Irish Derby winner, Bachelor’s Double, was homebred. He also bred the handsome Bachelor’s Wedding, an own-brother to Bachelor’s Double, but slow to come to hand. Joseph Lowry died in January 1913. Two months later his son, Albert, sold Bachelor’s Wedding for £4,000 to Sir James Nelson. Trained by Atty Persse in England, Bachelor’s Wedding returned to the Curragh the following June to win the Irish Derby.
Principal winners:
1899 Cecil Winkfield (Waterford Testimonial) M Dawson
1901 Bachelor’s Button (National Produce) M Dawson
1906 Killeagh (Irish Derby), Master Tredennis (International Foal) M Dawson
1908 Bachelor’s Double (Railway)
M Dawson
1909 Bachelor’s Double (Irish Derby)
M Dawson
1910 Bachelor’s Double (City & Suburban) M Dawson
Who Was Who In Irish Racing, by Guy St John Williams and Francis P. Hyland, is published by Daletta Press. Priced at €100, copies can be purchased from Farrell & Nephew, 8 Main Street, Newbridge, Co Kildare. There is €7 post and packaging fee for telephone or internet orders. It is also on sale in Barker & Jones, Poplar Square, Naas.