BREEDER Pat Hannon from Ralahine Stud in Newmarket-on-Fergus, Co Clare, passed away peacefully on September 19th. He had fallen ill eight weeks earlier and his condition was too advanced for effective treatment.

Although he is more associated with National Hunt racing and breeding, the most successful horse he bred, Fair Crack, raced on the flat. A colt by Fairy King, Fair Crack was trained by Richard Hannon to win the Goffs Million at the Curragh in 1991. Horses bred by Pat with the ‘Crack’ suffix, such as Good Crack and What’s The Crack, enjoyed great success over jumps. He was also a beef farmer and in later years Pat and his son Ger, a well-known point-to-point commentator, pinhooked stores. They bought six-race winner Baywing as a foal for €1,400 and sold another six-race winner Cavalry Master for €92,000.

Ger Hannon said: “My father left school early and bought two farms and was always on the go, enthusiastic and optimistic. Richard O’Brien [trainer] said of him: ‘If one could live with his bonhomie, optimism and enthusiasm it would be a life well lived. He’ll be remembered and deserves to be. He had class, real class.’”

A dedicated reader of The Irish Field, Pat was a popular fixture around the sales ring. “Martin Cullinane said he could always find Dad at the acorn [in Tattersalls] and he will be missed at the foal sales this year,” Ger added.

He is survived by his wife Kathleen and their six children.