A VERY happy birthday to Teddy (Edward Brophy) from Newlands, Naas who is 95 years old this Monday, May 11th, one of three brothers born in Newlands Naas and both Richard (Dick) and William (Bill) have passed on.

Their father was Edward Brophy and he married Margaret (Daisy) Gannon from Main Street Newbridge and they lived in Newlands House, where Pat Burns now lives, Newlands Stud.

Teddy has had a lifelong interest in racing both flat and National Hunt and even up to this day loves to watch Irish and English racing on TV as well as read the results in the paper every day recounting breeding lines as well as trainers, owners and jockeys and is a special fan of The Irish Field.

His grandfather, William Brophy from Herbertsown, holds a unique record. William was a wealthy coal merchant who supplied coal to the Curragh Camp. He was, in 1880, the owner of the winner of both the Irish Derby with King Of The Bees and the Irish Grand National with Controller in the same year which has never been done since. Both were from the same dam that he owned, Winged Bee.

Teddy loved going to the Phoenix Park, the Curragh, Naas, Punchestown, Baldoyle, Tramore and in fact anywhere where there was racing. When he married he would go with his brothers and their wives - sometimes not returning until Sunday or Monday!

Teddy’s father, Edward Brophy, was one of the finding founders of Naas Racecourse in the early 1920s and with Henry Farrell, Cub Kennedy, Michael Conway and others invested in the setup of Naas Racecourse.

Teddy with one of his brothers, Dick, had a horse in the 1960s called Red - Richard Edward Brophy - and it did win a race in Tramore in the August Festival, much to their delight as summer holidays revolved around Tramore and Dunmore East.

Teddy has five sons and one daughter and his wife Imelda is still alive and in good health, they are 60 years married this September all going well.

Many congratulations to a loyal reader.