SADLY, Leeanne Hayes was in touch over the weekend to let us know that her racehorse to dressage horse, Taylor’s Guest, had been lost to a severe colic last Thursday.

The 2009 Pelder gelding won once and was placed four times in a 13-race point-to-point career, which ran from November 2016 until he fell on his last start in June 2018. He was trained throughout in Co Tipperary by Liam O’Brien, who featured in the Heart of Racing column in The Irish Field two weeks ago and whose wife, Claire Annan, partnered the dark bay each time he ran.

Taylor’s Guest was then sent to Anne Williamson’s Cappanagarrane Horse Rescue near Mullinahone to be re-homed and it was from here in January 2019 that Leeanne took the gelding back with her to Co Clare, although she had been interested in a different horse. While he was ridden a few times by her husband, the former jockey, Tony Hayes, including in an AIRC dressage qualifier, Taylor’s Guest became Leeanne’s horse, competing mainly on the Dressage Ireland North Munster region circuit, where they were Preliminary champions.

Having upgraded quickly through Novice, they began competing at Elementary level halfway through 2020, competing at the 2021 Winter finals at Greenogue in April. In September that year, at the National Championships in Barnadown, they finished outside the top 10 in their grade, but did place sixth in the Freestyle and won the Treo Eile-sponsored prize for the highest-placed thoroughbred at Elementary level.

In 2022, Leeanne and Tony concentrated on getting Taylor’s Guest qualified for the racehorse to riding horse class at Dublin, which they did, and they had him looking a picture on the day. Unfortunately, having gone really well in the practice ring, the gelding blew up once he stepped into Ring 1 and Leeanne had to bring him into the centre and then voluntarily leave the class.

“That was disappointing, but the qualifying, getting to Dublin and then riding at the RDS was a real highlight, as it was a first for us,” revealed Leeanne, who achieved a score of 70% on the bay in an Elementary class early in the year and had just moved him up to Medium in early November, only to lose him on Thursday.

“It was just terrible that we couldn’t save him,” said Leeanne, a native of Belfast. “He was such a sensitive soul and gave 110% to everything. I’d like to thank my dressage coach, Tara Oliver Donohoe, who really helped us move up through the grades and I’d like to say how great it was that Anne, Liam and Claire followed Taylor’s Guest throughout his second career.”