Tom Lacy

Tom Lacy received a heartwarming reception at the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders' Association Awards last week. And rightly so. A legendary figure in Irish racing, Lacy rode 50 winners on the Flat and found only Arkle and Flyingbolt too good aboard Height Of Fashion in two Irish Grand Nationals.  As a trainer, Lacy sent out hundreds of winners from Rhode, County Offaly, including Ingabelle (GB), who later became a hugely important foundation mare at Ballylinch Stud. His sons Barry and Tony rode multiple winners for the stable down through the years....

KILLENARD, Ireland--The trick to living a mostly happy life is to spend as much time as possible doing what you love. Simple, right? That's not to say that people in the bloodstock industry don't work incredibly hard. There is no real let-up in the work either, with almost wall-to-wall sales these days, foals on the way, mares to be covered, mud to be scraped off almost everything and, some mornings, ice to be broken on water troughs and buckets.  But it's a wonderful life nonetheless, and every now and then...

Group 2 winner Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}--Vida Amorosa {Ire}, by Lope De Vega {Ire}), placed three times at the highest level, has been retired to stand at stud in 2023, Amo Racing's Tom Pennington confirmed to the TDN on Sunday morning. A stud farm and fee for the precocious juvenile will be announced in the very near future. "Persian's done an incredible job, to be honest," Amo Racing's Kia Joorabchian told Nick Luck during Luck On Sunday. "He's done everything that Mehmas has done. Arguably, according to Richard Hannon,...

Amo Racing's €225,000 Goffs Orby yearling Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}--Vida Amorosa {Ire}, by Lope De Vega {Ire}) ran second to 'TDN Rising Star' Bradsell (GB) (Tasleet {GB}) in Royal Ascot's G2 Coventry S. last month and, in the absence of late scratching Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never), justified odds-on favouritism to claim a first stakes success in Thursday's G2 Close Brothers July S. at Newmarket. He had previously debuted with a win in a stellar renewal of Doncaster's Mar. 26 Brocklesby S. and doubled up in a...

The village of Rhode in the Irish heartland of County Offaly may be better known for its peat but it can also boast a growing reputation as home to some of the stars of the racing and breeding world. The most recent comet to shoot to prominence having been raised on its turf is Gubbass (Ire) (Mehmas {Ire}), winner of Saturday's Weatherbys Super Sprint for Richard Hannon and owner Jassim Bin Ali Attiyah. The youngster was bred at  Ballyheashill Stud in Rhode by Barry Lacy and his father Tom, the...