GER Lyons sent out his 1,000th career winner at Roscommon on Monday.
The achievement took over 25 years to accomplish and there has been a steady increase in the quality and quantity of winners flowing from Glenburnie Stables in Dunsany, Co Meath, over that period.
Lyons was represented at Roscommon by his brother and assistant Shane, who said: “Ger is so dedicated. He just loves animals and that shines through with certain horses. He just gets into their heads and fills them with loads of confidence. In our yard they are happy horses. Happy staff make happy horses and vice versa.
“He doesn’t copy what other trainers do – he thinks outside the box. Sometimes you think ‘this lad is losing it’, but all of a sudden you realise none of us would have thought of that with certain genius things that he does.”
Colin Keane, first jockey to the yard and current champion, said: “It’s a fair achievement by Ger and the whole team, especially to do it in Ireland, where the racing is the most competitive in the world. Ger is a very driven man with a great team behind him. He’s very good at what he does.
“Like Shane says, Ger is always thinking outside the box. A lot of times you would question what he does but he’s right nine times out of 10. He’s very black and white – if something is on his mind, he tells you. He puts in the hours, never leaves a stone unturned and expects the highest standards from everyone who works with him. The work is organised with military precision but we can have a laugh too when the work is done.
“Every year Ger is trying to improve himself, his horses and the facilities.”
Background
Born in Co Kildare in 1965, Lyons gained his first exposure to thoroughbreds as a schoolboy in the yard of his neighbour Peter McCreery. Aged 20, he travelled to America to ride work for top trainer Carl Nafzger but returned after six months and took out a jump jockey’s licence.
He rode for four seasons in the north of England before injury forced him to retire in 1989. He married Lynne in 1992 and moved back to Ireland where they purchased Kiltale Stud and renamed it Glenburnie Stables.
Lyons said: “My first winner was Maelalong in Navan on October 12th, 1994 and it was fantastic. We had very few horses at the time and I had one two year old and we went to Navan and won under Johnny Murtagh. I thought I would be champion trainer after the win! It couldn’t happen quickly enough for me. I get a great buzz out of every winner. The day I don’t get that buzz, I will have to stop training.”
Initially Lyons trained both flat and jumps horses but decided to focus on the flat after his Grade 1-winning chaser Big-And-Bold suffered a fatal injury.
He particularly enjoys training two-year-olds and it was with the two-year-old filly Elletelle that he broke new ground winning the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes at Royal Ascot in 2007, with Johnny Murtagh on board.
Lightening Pearl brought the pair to greater heights taking the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes at Newmarket in 2011.
Year on year, Glenburnie continued to develop as a facility suitable for any equine star. Ger carefully built his team around him with a system that was efficient and practical, one that worked as his list of owners grew.
Horses like An Tadh, Endless Drama, Lily’s Angel, Brendan Brackan and Cappella Sansevero raised the yard’s profile.
Jockey Gary Carroll became a huge part of the team at home as well as on the track.
In 2014. Lyons made the bold decision to appoint Colin Keane his stable jockey while still an apprentice. In 2017, Colin was crowned champion flat jockey in Ireland for the first time and they have reached several milestones together since.
They shared their first Irish Group 1 success with the very special Siskin in the 2019 Phoenix Stakes and the same horse provided them with their first classic the following year in the Irish 2,000 Guineas. Just five weeks later Lyons and Keane won the Irish Oaks with Even So.
These classic wins, as well as major handicap winners such as Mustajeer in the £1 million Ebor of 2019, seem certain to attract more owners and even better horses to the yard, not that Lyons is turning people away.
“I train what’s in front of me. I don’t go dreaming about various horses. Whatever’s in the yard, I train. But having horses sent to me from farms like Juddmonte, Moyglare and Newtown Anner has certainly changed things. They have brought really well-bred horses to the yard which allows us to compete at the top table.”
Ger Lyons fact file
Born: 1965
First winner: Maelalong (Johnny Murtagh), Navan, October 12, 1994
1,000th winner: Offiah (Colin Keane), Roscommon, August 30, 2021
Group 1 winners: Even So (Irish Oaks), Lightening Pearl (Cheveley Park Stakes), Siskin (Phoenix Stakes, Irish 2,000 Guineas), Big-And-Bold (Powers Gold Cup- NH)
Group 2 winners: Ardhoomey (Flying Five), Elletelle (Queen Mary Stakes), Lemista (Kilboy Stud Stakes), Medicine Jack (Railway Stakes), Siskin (Railway Stakes), Mulkev Prince (Ratoath Novice Chase - NH)
Group 3 winners: Acanella (Snow Fairy Stakes), Ainippe (Ballyogan Stakes & Brownstown Stakes), An Tadh (Ballycorus Stakes), Bear Cheek (Curragh Stakes), Berg Bahn (Brownstown Stakes), Beauty Inspire (Anglesey Stakes), Brendan Brackan (Solonaway Stakes), Cappella Sansevero (Round Tower Stakes), Convergence (Ballycorus Stakes), Exogenesis (Tyros Stakes), Future Generation (Desmond Stakes), Lightening Pearl (Round Tower Stakes), Lightening Quick (Athasi Stakes), Lily’s Angel (Chartwell Fillies’ Stakes), Lemista (Park Express Stakes), Love Lockdown (Sirenia Stakes), Maker Of Kings (Amethyst Stakes), Nickajack Cave (Ballyroan Stakes), Psychedelic Funk (Gladness Stakes & Concorde Stakes), Queen Catrine (Brownstown Stakes), Sacred Bridge (Round Tower Stakes), Summit Surge (Ballycorus Stakes & Amethyst Stakes), Thunder Kiss (Munster Oaks), Treasuring (Curragh Stakes), Who’s Steph (1000 Guineas Trial (x2) & Munster Oaks), Spirit Dancer (Juvenile Hurdle - NH)
Other notable big race winners: Brendan Brackan (Irish Lincoln & Topaz Mile), Mustajeer (Ebor), Sacred Bridge (Irish EBF Ballyhane Stakes), Sea Wolf (Irish Cambridgeshire)