RACING and bloodstock circles on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean were shocked to hear of Gerry Dilger’s sudden passing this week.

Aged just 61, the Kentucky-based Clareman was taken ill with a heart complaint on February 24th and was in hospital awaiting surgery when he died on Wednesday. He is survived by his wife Erin and three children.

He moved to the USA 40 years ago and established Dromoland Farm in 1994. While he has made headlines in recent years for his involvement with two Kentucky Derby winners – he pinhooked Nyquist and co-bred Always Dreaming – he was also renowned for his efforts to develop young people in the industry.

In 2018 he was honoured by the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association who presented him with the prestigious Wild Geese award. On stage he was visibly moved while watching video tributes from his colleagues Mike Ryan, Pat Costello, Rory Mathews, Gabriel ‘Spider’ Duignan, Timmy Hyde and Reilly McDonald.

“He’s the master,” said Pat Costello (Paramount Sales) on that night. “A great horseman and a great human being.”

Despite not coming from a racing family, he developed a love for livestock and bloodstock as a schoolboy. He learned to ride on local ponies and began working with yearlings in Ballyalla Stud in Ennis. He won a place on the Irish National Stud’s Thoroughbred Breeding course in 1977 and worked at Brownstown Stud on the Curragh and Castlehyde Stud in Cork before reluctantly heading to the USA in 1980.

After some success pinhooking foals with Robbie Lyons and Mike Ryan, Dilger bought his own farm which now covers 312 acres at two locations.

In 2013 Dilger, Pat Costello and Ted Campion purchased a foal by Uncle Mo at Keeneland for $180,000. They sold him as a yearling for $230,000 and he turned out to be Nyquist, the 2016 Kentucky Derby winner.

Incredibly, Dilger had an ever closer connection to the 2017 Derby winner Always Dreaming, a Bodemeister colt he bred with the aforementioned Ryan.

Among the many other top-class horses to pass through Dromoland were Breeders’ Cup Juvenile winner Wilko, Grade 1 winner Hot Dixie Chick, Itsaknockout, Dublin, Magical Feeling and Well Chosen, as well as the Jim Bolger-trained Phoenix Stakes and Moyglare Stud Stakes winner Saoirse Abu.

This week, Mike Ryan told Thoroughbred Daily News: “We were best friends for over 40 years. It is quite sudden and a big shock to us all. He was a very, very kind man and did so much for so many people. He would give you the shirt off his back. Gerry took tremendous personal pride in bringing students from Ireland, who aspired to be successful in the horse business, to work on his farm. He has done that for over 30 years and still does to this day.”

Pat Costello added: “He was one of the greatest ambassadors in the American horse business. I don’t know of anybody who ever had a bad word to say about Gerry. He was the ultimate horseman and a beautiful human being. He loved his family unbelievably.”

Friends establish equine scholarship

FRIENDS of Gerry Dilger have set up an equine scholarship foundation in his memory. By Friday morning over $56,000 had been dontated to the fund. The foundation aims to “further Gerry’s work in mentoring and helping young people in this industry to help themselves and achieve their goals”. Donations can be made online or cheques made payable to The Gerry Dilger Equine Scholarship Foundation can be forwarded to Paramount Sales, 449 Lewis Hargett Circle, Ste 190, Lexington, KY 40503, USA.

Web: Search gofundme.com for ‘Gerry Dilger’