EDDIE Lynam has a fine team of horses at his yard just a short drive outside Dunsaughlin village and while it was unfortunate that the talented Agnes Stewart will miss the rest of the season, he has a strong team that will represent him both here and abroad for the rest of year.
“We have some lovely young horses, but I’d say around 66% of them have yet to run and a few of them won’t run at two. I have a real young team here, which is a harder, slower process. Hopefully we’ll see the benefits next year and we have more two-year-olds than older horses,” he said.
“As a bunch, my two-year-olds look a nice bunch. A couple of them have picked up blacktype already and we look to have a nice team. Whether we have a real star is debatable, but we look to have a strong team of juveniles.
“They will all find their own level and the best one that we have has had a setback and won’t run until the back-end. But we have a few more stoutly-bred types that will take a bit of time, but we like them,” he added.
Inevitably there is a weeding out process and he explained, “you have to find out first are they any good and then you have to let them develop. Then you get them going, but it is a much slower game, so you need patience.
“I have great owners - having said that, if I want to speak to 50% of them, I only have to go into a room on my own! But yes, I have great owners who let me get on with the job.”
Regarding Agnes Stewart he said: “She will miss the remainder of this season. She had a bad setback at the end of March and we were getting her through that. We were getting her ready to run, but then we met with another hiccup. So rather than patch her up, we have let her out and she has gone to her owners’ farm in Leeds. She will back for a four-year-old campaign.”
OLDER HORSES
ANTHEM ALEXANDER
3yo ch f (61132-136)
Starspangledbanner - Lady Alexander
Noel O’Callaghan
She is a very good filly. She has won a Group 3 and a Group 2. She has been placed in two Group 1s and she will run in the Renaissance Stakes in a few weeks’ time. She was a little lethargic coming out of the gates on Saturday at Newmarket but she was also showing signs of coming into season. She still ran a very good race for a three-year-old filly. She will remain in training at four which is great. I am very excited about her and she could travel during the winter. She could go to America in the autumn or we could send her to Hong Kong later on this year. As you’ve seen with the other sprinters that we’ve had, if they are good enough they go. She is a huge, big filly and she has grown and developed a lot. But looking at her, you’d have to say that she can only improve at four. I wouldn’t run her on anything softer than yielding and she goes on quick ground. Five or six is fine for her. Group 1 wise, the Haydock Sprint Cup is an option for her and after that, she might take in an international race somewhere.
BALMONT BLAST
4yo b g (90002-14601)
Balmont - Margaret’s Dream
Edward Lynam
His main job is as a lead horse. When they go by him, they are good and he has been very good to Oisin [Orr] - he lost his 10lb claim on him. The handicapper has nailed him for his last win and he’ll be seen at Dundalk again at some stage. But his primary job is to train the youngsters.
BALMONT MAST
7yo b g (/455894-2504612)
Balmont - Corn Futures
Derek Iceton
He has been great for the yard. He has run some very good races in defeat in Dubai. He is not as good as he was, but he still runs to a high level and he’ll run in the big spring handicap at the Curragh today. He ran a cracker over six at the Curragh and was beaten by a very good horse in Gordon Lord Byron. There was no shame in that and he ran a very good race. At one stage, he wanted to race around a bend on the polytrack but now he seems as good going up the Curragh. He wouldn’t want soft ground and I think he is better over six.
BENJALINA
3yo b f (86845)
Vale Of York - Blue Reema
J. Carthy
She is limited and is on borrowed time. She will get one more chance and her only chance of improvement is on soft ground.
BREAK MY MIND
4yo b f (5O3213-925)
Nayef - Illuminise
J. Carthy
The trainer probably ran her back a bit soon after a very good run at Ballinrobe where she finished second to an improving filly of Pat Martin’s. She went up 2lbs for that and she should be up to winning a handicap over a trip with a little ease in the ground.
BYZANTIUM
3yo ch f (31-35)
Dutch Art - Spring Green
Kilboy Estates
She is a filly I like. I ran her back too quick the last day at Fairyhouse. That was trainer error. She is better than that and she might run in the Sweet Mimosa at Naas. She raced a bit keenly at Fairyhouse and she sweated up. We thought that we might get her group-placed the last day but in hindsight, I blame myself as I think I ran her back too quick. If she does it again, she’ll have to take the blame, but I’d give her the benefit of the doubt.
CAPTAIN POWER
3yo b g ((4-473421)
Captain Rio - Invincible Power
Mrs S. Power Partnership
He is a homebred and he has a pair of front legs on him like Charlie Chaplin, so we have had to take our time with him. Robbie [Downey] gets on very well with him and he lives on his nerves a bit. He is slowly but surely getting his act together and he won a little maiden at Fairyhouse. His owners are lucky so he has something going for him. He’ll go for a handicap somewhere.
DOC HOLLIDAY
5yo b g (26346715432-478)
Lawman - Miss Amadeus
Mrs Aileen Lynam
He has won a few races and Aileen has got a bit of fun out of him. Robbie has ridden a few winners on him, but he is not pulling any trees at the minute and I think he is on flexi-time the way he is training. We’ll get him out at the weekend and try and wake him up.
DREAM CRAFT
3yo br f (5323)
Mastercraftsman - Ascot Dream
Mrs A. Kennedy
She has done well. She is owned by Anne Kennedy who is our vet’s (Con’s) wife. She has been placed in her three starts and I can’t see her remaining a maiden for much longer. She will win a race. She is honest and she tries hard and I think she will win a maiden or a handicap.
EIGHTEEN SUMMERS
8yo b g (610/6612175-90363)
Lion Heart - Azarina
Mrs Aileen Lynam
He was bought for Sarah to ride in those lady races but he is a bit keen and he doesn’t really get a mile and a half. But he has done well for us and he does a bit of a job for us as a lead horse. He has won a couple of nice races for us but the handicapper has got his measure a bit at the minute. He is a good fun horse and hopefully he’ll be able to win another one for us.
FORT DEL ORO
3yo b f (-21)
Lope De Vega - Gilded
Ballylinch Stud
She is a filly I like a lot. She won her maiden impressively and she will go for the Sweet Mimosa at Naas and I’d be very disappointed if she isn’t a good filly. She has got to go and prove it but I like her a lot. She is out of a very good mare that was trained by Richard Hannon and she has a lot of speed. She might get seven.
FUTURE ICON
3yo b f (563-0982)
Acclamation - Midnight Fantasy
Mrs Aileen Lynam & Lady O’Reilly
Her homework has been okay but she has been disappointing a couple of times. We put a hood on her the last day and she ran very well for Colm. She is no star but she is up to winning a race.
GATHERING POWER
5yo b m (/3100/01263527-487)
Kyllachy - Nutkin
Mrs S. Power
I have made a mess of her. I ran her on good ground and she really needs soft. She ran well at York but then she was a bit disappointing in Haydock. Her tummy was at her for a while - she suffers a bit from ulcers. She is on the way back. I hope to win a listed race with her and if I don’t win one, I deserve a kick in the ass.
IFFRAJA
3yo b f (0-346)
Iffraaj - Raja
Lady O’Reilly & Qatar Racing Limited
She is a very well-bred filly of limited ability but we hope to win a little sprint maiden at the back-end with her.
IRON MAJOR
8yo ch g (/2440143646786-1743)
Titus Livius - Bent Al Fala
Edward Lynam
He has run 71 times and he is a remarkably sound and durable horse. He has retained his enthusiasm and Ray Dawson, Oisin and Robbie have all won on him. He is a real stable favourite and he might be able to win a little race along the way. He runs at the Curragh today.
LADY MEGA
4yo b f (215/132410-58)
Kodiac - Naias
Theydontknow Syndicate
She had a nice first start at Navan but I shouldn’t have run her at Tipperary as the ground was too soft for her that day. She was a little bit low in herself when she was due to run in the Rockingham. She has had a bit of time to recover and she should be out again soon. She is very speedy and I’d be surprised if she doesn’t win again.
MOVIESTA
5yo b g (112210/5083403-00)
Hard Spun - Miss Brickyard
H. Redknapp, W. Salthouse & Ritchie Fiddes
He came to us earlier this year. He had a few little issues that we had to iron out and he had a run at Ascot. He would have needed that as he hadn’t run for a while. He runs today in the Sapphire Stakes at the Curragh and he is a sprinter that we like. He was a very decent horse for Bryan Smart and I’d say he’ll take another run before we see the best of him. He hasn’t won for about two years so he can run in the odd listed race without a penalty. He has a few options but Goodwood is on the agenda for him at the moment. I don’t see why he wouldn’t get six. He wouldn’t like soft ground.
MR GOOD GUY
4yo b g (6331/67247-68001)
Diamond Green - Brief Affair
Mrs Aileen Lynam
He is just a horse and he won a claimer the other day at Fairyhouse. He is what he is and and he might be able to win a little handicap.
SOLE POWER
8yo br g (/47111489-01654)
Kyllachy - Demerger
Mrs S. Power
What can I say about him? He is a horse of a lifetime as far as I am concerned. Five furlongs on fast ground he is top class, six furlongs on fast ground, he is very useful. He ran a very good race in the July Cup, beaten just over a length. He still retains his enthusiasm which is great for a horse of his age. He’ll go for the Nunthorpe next. He ran the fastest last furlong in the July Cup and that would tempt me to have another go at a good race over six. The July Cup is a hard race for a hold-up horse, because from five out, they are running downhill. It is an easy six and I suppose in an ideal world, a York six would be easier for him. He has run in 24 Group 1s. He has won five of them and I think he has been in the frame in at least three Group 1s over six. He was second in Hong Kong and he was placed in a Betfred Sprint and was fourth on Saturday at Newmarket. He is a proper horse and as he has been around for so long, he is probably taken a bit for granted. I would have thought his performance on World Cup night at Meydan was exceptional. No European horse has ever won a Group 1 sprint over there. That has to be right up there with some of his best performances. He is very popular and he got an ovation when he went into the parade ring one day before he ran and I was a bit taken aback. In a different world, you’d love him to have run a bit more in Ireland but the reasons for that are self-explanatory. When he was voted Horse Of The Year at the HRI Awards was a very proud moment for us.
The racing people told us what they thought of him that day and I’d put that down as probably one of our biggest achievements in racing. We are very proud of the horse and we are mad keen to run him in the Group 2 five-furlong race on Champions Weekend.
I probably won’t bring him back to Hong Kong. You need a bigger, more solid horse and it is a very rough race - he gets very intimidated over there. Richard said that they frightened the life out of him over there last year as he got bumped around a bit. He is brave, but I am looking after him.
It will be York, the Curragh and I’d say Haydock is only a maybe. He has been placed in the Abbaye, but Paris hasn’t been lucky for him. It is the only five furlong Group 1 off his CV, so we’ll have to give it a go. After that he’ll go back to Dubai.
TSUNDOKU
4yo ch f (044-304)
Medicean - Toberanthawn
Mrs Aileen Lynam
She is a disappointing filly that needs soft ground. She might get through a bad race somewhere.
TWO-YEAR-OLDS
LOUIS LEROY
2yo b g (7)
Art Connoisseur - Chelsy
Eddie Lynam
He is one that I bred but is hard to keep sound. He is not useless and I’d say he’ll be okay on soft ground.
MISS ELIZABETH
2yo b f (113)
Intense Focus - Passaggio
Mrs Aileen Lynam
She was well bought for €7,000. She was working well without pulling up any trees before she ran so we were pleasantly surprised when she won first time out at Fairyhouse.
She stepped up on that when she won a winners of one, (I’d like more winners of one but the trainers voted with their feet as there were only three in that).
She has since run very well when third in what was a very good Group 3 at the Curragh. She’ll go for another Group 3 and then the big sales race on Champions Weekend at the Curragh. I think she’ll win a Group 3 and Wayne thinks she’ll win one as well. They think an awful lot of the filly that won at the Curragh but I wouldn’t mind having another go, maybe sitting in the next day.
There was no pace the last day and she had to make her own running and I don’t think it was any advantage to her. She will be well treated in the sales race and it is worth a lot of money so she’ll go for that in September. She has gone on good to firm and I have no doubt that she will go on a bit slower than that as well.
PERIWIG
2yo b f (6)
Monsieur Bond - Suntory
Edward Lynam
She ran a bit keen the first day. She struggled to get a bit of cover but I think she is better than that. We’ll run her in a fillies’ maiden over five or six pretty soon. I think she’ll win her maiden.
PROMISED MONEY
2yo b f (0131)
Dark Angel - Hartstown House
Mrs Annette O’Callaghan
I thought she’d run a lot better first time out, but she got what I suppose they call stagefright.
She put that right the next day when she won her maiden at Cork and she ran well after that in Naas to get blacktype. Pat said that the head wind and the conditions weren’t in her favour that day.
We were delighted when she won a listed race at Tipperary last Saturday. She is a decent filly and she’ll go for the Curragh Stakes next month. It is the only Group 3 two-year-old, five-furlong race in Ireland and the first for probably a decade. She’ll get six, but we’ll stick to five for the moment. She didn’t mind the drop of rain that fell at the weekend but she wouldn’t like extremes.
REDSTAROVERCHINA
2yo b f (5)
Starspangledbanner - Fragrant Air
Tan Kai Chah
Trainer error, she needed the run the first day. She got a bit tired and she will run again in the next week or two. She needs to step up on what she has shown to win a race but I think I left her short. Sometimes we make the mistake of trying to have them too right for their first run. When they reach a certain level, you are sometimes better off starting them off, as a run improves them no end.
WHISKEY SOUR
2yo b c (4)
Jeremy - Swizzle Stick
Ms M. McMahon
I own him with Luke McMahon who is a friend of mine. He ran a nice race first time out and I might bring him to Galway for a median auction maiden. I am not saying he is a superstar, but he is a horse I like and there is a bit of fun to be had with him. I think he is useful and I think he’ll win his maiden.
UNRACED
MIDNIGHT CROSSING
B f Dark Angel - Line Ahead
She runs at the weekend. She is a nice maiden and is one that I like. She should win her maiden.
MUSICAL JEWEL
B f Invincible Spirit - Chirkova
She is a nice filly that goes well. She should be out sometime next month and she is a nice maiden.
OTTILIE
B f High Chaparral - Teddy Bears Picnic
She is a filly that we like. She is owned in partnership with Lady O’Reilly. She should be out sometime in August.
PEDDLARS PASS
br f Big Bad Bob - Chelsy
She goes nicely. She is out of a good mare that I trained and she is very speedy. I’d say we’ll start her off next month.