Trainer, owner and breeder Noel Hickey, who was the first trainer to breed a Breeders' Cup winner when Buck's Boy captured the GI Breeders' Cup Turf in 1998, died Monday at the age of 94. Blood-Horse first reported the story.
The Irish-born Hickey, who raced under the name of Irish Acres Farm, his Ocala breeding operation, trained for over four decades and had his best success at Arlington Park. He won the 1990 training title at the Chicago-area track with 49 winners, all of whom were homebreds.
He trained his greatest known pupil, Buck's Boy, to 16 wins in 30 career starts and earnings of over $2.7 million. The gelding raced until age seven and was named champion turf male in 1998 for his Breeders' Cup heroics and four other stakes wins.
Hickey sent out 1,049 winners, including 10 other graded stakes winners besides Buck's Boy, and racked up over $19 million in earnings before retiring in 2013.
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