By Brian Sheerin
Legendary trainer Kevin Prendergast has announced that his famous Friarstown Stables, from which Classic winners Nebbiolo, Pidget and more recently Awtaad have been trained from, will be offered up for sale.
Prendergast, who turned 91 this week and marked the occasion by sending out Profit Refused to win at Roscommon, quashed any talk of retirement and said that he would make provisions to carry on training at another location if and when Friarstown is sold.
However, Prendergast has admitted that coming to the decision to sell the 250-acre facility valued at €7.5 million on the outskirts of the Curragh, where he has been based since 1964, was hugely difficult and fraught with emotion
“When you get to my age, you begin to think, 'this can't go on forever'”, he told TDN Europe on Friday. “I have seven daughters and none of them are very involved in the yard so I thought it was the best thing to do to put it up for sale.
“I find it very difficult to give up something that I've loved as much as training. I've been training all my life and have loved it and worked very hard at it. But there comes a time where you have to make decisions that are not very happy ones.”
Asked if that meant that he had plans to retire, Prendergast said, “Not really, but, if the place is sold, we will have to try and make other arrangements. We've only got 12 horses in full work.”
Prendergast is a much-loved figure in Irish racing. That was evidenced when Awtaad sparked rare scenes of emotion at the Curragh after landing the Irish 2,000 Guineas in 2016.
As much as Prendergast says that he prefers to concentrate on the future rather than gaze on past victories, he counts winning the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket in 1977 with Nebbiolo as one of his happiest days in the game.
“We've had an awful lot of luck and everything went very well for us. Friarstown has been a lucky place for us thank God. Winning an English Classic was very good. Unfortunately we didn't win an English Derby, we were second in it with Madhmoon, but those would be the outstanding memories.”
“Ardross is probably the best horse that I ever trained from here. He was beaten just a short head in an Arc as a six-year-old after I sold him to Henry Cecil. There's a lot of good memories.”
He added, “Friarstown is just a lovely place, very peaceful, and a great place to train horses. When my father [Patrick] died, I trained out of his place in Rossmore Lodge before coming here in 1964. I'm here ever since.”
Prendergast may not be finished sending out big-race winners from Friarstown just yet. Roscommon scorer Profit Refused, who he owns in partnership with Jim Bolger's wife Jackie, is entered up in the G1 Moyglare S. at the Curragh and is reported to be going nicely by the trainer.
He said, “She's a nice filly and hopefully she's progressive. I think that she is. I own her along with Jackie Bolger and we made an entry in the Moyglare for her.”
Asked what the secret was to be still sending out winners at 91, he replied, “There's no secret! You need to be lucky in life. If you don't have your health, you have nothing. Your health is your wealth.
“We've got a few great kicks in life. Awtaad winning the Irish 2,000 Guineas was another. We lost a very good owner not so long after that, Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum. I tell you, he was one solid man and was with us for 35 years and we never had a cross word.
“I must say, Tony and Chryss O'Reilly have also been great supporters of mine for over 30 years as well. We've had a lot of luck. Some great days.”
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