'It's Taken Its Toll' – Sarah Lynam Forced To Press Pause On Training Career

Sarah Lynam has been forced to press pause on her training career after a number of serious falls and concussions has left her with no other option but to take time out from the profession in order to recuperate fully. 

Daughter of Eddie Lynam, who earned the nickname of 'Fast Eddie' through his handling of superstar sprinters Sole Power (GB), Slade Power (Ire) and more, Sarah took out her licence in 2017 and sent out 25 winners from the same Dunshaughlin base as her father. 

Winning a valuable Curragh handicap with Additional (Ire) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}), owned by her uncle John Lynam, was put forward as a career highlight by Sarah, whose handling of Tyrconnell (Ire) (Bated Breath  {GB}) and Juyush (GB) (Frankel {GB}) also earned plenty of plaudits. 

Lynam said, “I don't really want to stop. I've had a good few concussions over the years and in 2023 alone I had three. I haven't been able to take time off to let the brain heal and, basically, I can't heal properly unless I take time out. A smaller operation like mine, I have to work all day every day in order to keep the whole thing going. I don't mind doing it but the neurologist told me that perhaps I should think about taking some time out. 

“I am lucky that I have the facilities here and Horse Racing Ireland have told me that the licence can lie dormant for up to three years should I decide to take it back out. I would have liked to have achieved more, and I hope I will still, but it's just been difficult recently.”

Additional bagged a €25,000 handicap at the Curragh on just his second start for Lynam while Juyush racked up a three-timer at Dundalk in the winter of 2020 and climbed 24lbs in the process. Stable stalwart Tyrconnell also flourished under the Lynam banner by winning six times at Dundalk and Laytown respectively. Nevertheless, Lynam says she feels as though she still has unfinished business as a trainer and is not ruling out a return to the game in time. 

She said, “I'm proud of what I did but nothing I did captured the imagination. Horses like Additional and Juyush, I got them from other yards and managed to sweeten them up a bit. Juyush won three-in-a-row and Additional won a premier handicap on his second start for me. It's a pity they didn't get a bit more attention at the time and I was hoping they might bring more people into the yard.

“I was always hoping to entice more young people to come and work for me because I had worked in so many other yards and had an idea of the kind of boss I wanted to be and the kind of atmosphere I wanted to create but it has been very hard to attract staff. It's understandable, a lot of the stable staff want to work in the bigger yards.”

She added, “Most of the time I have had the licence, I have been working by myself and that couldn't continue after I had the concussions. I suppose it's just taken its toll. I feel like I am still well able to do the job and it's still a huge passion of mine. It's going to be hard to see the horses on Dad's side of the yard but I will be keeping a close eye on them all and my owners have been very understanding about it.”