The Pat Smullen race day, which will raise funds to aid Cancer Trials Ireland, will take place at the Curragh on Saturday, Aug. 26.
Racegoers will have the opportunity to attend a post-race party with the band Superfly. Pat Smullen's daughter Hannah, former amateur jockey Kate Harrington and Olympian Sue Shortt are among 15 riders participating in the 12-furlong Pat Smullen Cancer Trials Ireland charity race supported by The Grafton Hotel, who are all raising funds individually. The race is held in memory of a family member or friend who they lost to cancer or to support anyone currently living with cancer.
There are also items set to be auctioned off like Taylor Swift and Coldplay tickets, a coaching lesson with Ronan O'Gara, a racehorse with Joseph O'Brien for the 2024 Flat season and a private dinner for 12, cooked by celebrity chef Martin Shanahan, VIP tickets to the Irish Open Golf and Premiership games. The full list of items is now available to view on the Galabid website.
Paddy Power will sponsor the feature race, the Paddy Power Irish Cambridgeshire, with the full sponsorship fee going directly to Cancer Trials Ireland. The Coast to Curragh cycle, brainchild of Gavin Lynch who lost his mum Olive to pancreatic cancer, will be held prior to racing, with Sir AP McCoy leading the unique cycle in her memory.
Brian Kavanagh, Curragh Racecourse CEO, said, “We are overwhelmed with the response to the Pat Smullen Cancer Trials Ireland raceday on Saturday, Aug. 26. Everyone's generosity will make a significant impact to pancreatic cancer patients. We are honoured to continue Pat's legacy and support the life-changing work of Cancer Trials Ireland.”
Eibhlin Munroe, CEO, Cancer Trials Ireland, “The steadfast support of the racing community over the past four years is changing the face of pancreatic cancer trials and research in Ireland.”
Four summers ago, TDN had the privilege of having Pat Smullen as our weekly columnist. It would be easy to imagine that someone with as much knowledge of the racing game as the nine-time Irish champion jockey would just reel off a few thoughts and consider it job done, but that was not the way with Smullen.
It was clear in our weekly chats that he took this new role every bit as seriously as he took race-riding, which he had to give up, reluctantly, at the age of 42, after his diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. Smullen's role at TDN was for him a bit part compared to his ongoing involvement with Moyglare Stud, Dermot Weld's stable, and his ambassadorship of Irish Champions Weekend, but the feedback his well-planned column received each week was testament to how much his incisive and thoughtful commentary on the sport that he loved touched a nerve with readers.
When Smullen announced his retirement in TDN in May 2019, he ended that week's column with the words, “I've been very fortunate, I'm content with the decision and I'm looking forward to being able to contribute and give something back to the industry in some shape or form.”
That he did in his typically selfless fashion in the 17 months Smullen had left to live. Later that year, it became clear that he was giving plenty back beyond just the horseracing industry. On Irish Champions Weekend, more than €2.5 million was raised for Cancer Trials Ireland, with Smullen at the forefront of a Herculean and emotional fundraising effort which saw nine of his former weighing-room colleagues come out of retirement to ride in the Pat Smullen Champions Race at the Curragh.
His death, almost exactly a year later in September 2020, was by no means the end of the fundraising, despite a temporary pandemic-enforced hiatus. In recent weeks, the application process has begun for the newly created Pat Smullen Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at University College Dublin (UCD). The position will be funded by the Pat Smullen Pancreatic Cancer Fund at Cancer Trials Ireland, with matched funding from the HSE National Cancer Control Programme.
Smullen's wife, Frances Crowley, remains deeply enmeshed in the ongoing efforts to fund vital cancer trials which will one day ease the plight of other cancer sufferers. While admitting that she would rather remain behind the scenes, the modest Crowley, herself a highly respected former jockey and Classic-winning trainer, is currently engaged in a hectic print and TV media schedule to promote the new position, which carries with it the ambition of making Ireland a global centre of excellence for the treatment and research of pancreatic cancer.
“We had the big day in 2019 and then obviously nothing happened in 2020, but the following year we had our first Coast to Curragh Cycle,” she says, the latter being the charity initiative set up in association with Gavin Lynch to commemorate both his mother and Smullen.
“The cycle finished at the Curragh but in the first year we weren't able to do a whole lot as things were still a bit closed up because of Covid, but we raised lots of money.
“Last year we made it bigger and better and we were able to do a charity lunch at the races and organise more fundraising in between the two days. Since the big day I think we've raised an extra €375,000, so we're hoping to get to the half-million mark this year.”
This new position will anchor expertise in pancreatic research in Ireland with the ambition of making Ireland a global centre of excellence for… pic.twitter.com/TCT0P4IEyU
— CancerTrialsIreland (@cancertrials_ie) July 10, 2023
Next month, the Pat Smullen race day returns to the Curragh on August 26, featuring not just the conclusion of the Coast to Curragh Cycle but also the Pat Smullen Cancer Trials Ireland Charity Race, in which it is hoped that 10 to 15 riders will take part in memory of a family member or friend they have lost to cancer, or to support anyone currently living with cancer. The race is over a mile and a half of Ireland's most famous racecourse, and riders, who are asked to raise a minimum of €3,000 to take part, will have access to mentoring sessions prior to competing.
Crowley continued, “Eibhlin Mulroe [CEO, Cancer Trials Ireland] contacted me last November to say that something really exciting was going to happen, and that was the Chair in pancreatic cancer at UCD. They were in the process of organising for a world-class expert in pancreatic cancer to be recruited to take up this role, which includes a clinical position at St Vincent's University Hospital, where Pat had his treatment, and will have the educational and research role at UCD.
“It will basically be bringing on the research for trials, bringing trials to Ireland, and driving investment for trials, which will be a great step forward. It is such an honour and we are delighted that this is going ahead.
“The Pat Smullen Fund will fund this for the next five years, which is a commitment of €900,000, so we will have to keep up the fundraising. Pat's name will stay on the Chair, however, with UCD taking on the funding in the future. It's a great legacy that he has left.”
'Pat very much felt that if he could use the profile he had to make some kind of a difference then that was what he wanted to do'
The commitment to the charity has brought a lot of extra work for Crowley, who is also involved in breeding future stars of the racecourse at her farm in Rhode, Co Offaly, close to where Smullen was born and raised. It is not just four-legged participants, either, as the couple's eldest daughter, Hannah Smullen, will take her first ride in the ladies' bumper at Killarney on Thursday evening. Meanwhile their younger children, Paddy and Sarah, are both keen riders competing all over Ireland.
“It's good to keep busy,” says Crowley with a laugh. “Hannah rode in a charity race and is having her first ride at Killarney. She's doing law and she's flat out this summer but she really wanted to have a few rides and give it a shot. Paddy and Sarah are both competing and we're in the middle of weaning foals.”
Crowley's ongoing association with Cancer Trials Ireland, though never actually discussed with Smullen, appears to have happened not just through her sense of duty but also a form of spiritual guidance.
“At the time I remember that Pat very much felt that if he could use the profile he had to make some kind of a difference then that was what he wanted to do. To be honest, I don't think even he dreamt of how big it would be,” she says.
“But you know what, I feel like Pat is still directing it all and that we are all just going along with it. So many coincidences have happened; things like when I was up in UCD and talking to someone there who had visited the National Stud for the first time ever and he was literally patting [Smullen's Gold Cup winner] Rite Of Passage when the phone rang and it was Eibhlin talking to him about this.”
Crowley adds, “To keep the momentum going for the fundraising, I honestly feel like Pat has his own hand in it and is doing it all from wherever he is.”
With the various events taking shape for the Pat Smullen race day, Crowley is pleased to report that the tables for the lunch and auction are “selling like hotcakes” and that Smullen's old friend and fellow multiple champion jockey Sir Anthony McCoy has once again signed up for the Coast to Curragh Cycle.
“Horse Racing Ireland did a huge amount of work for the big day in 2019,” she says. “Barbara White was assigned to it and she did nothing else for months. She's still a huge part of it and is involved in the race day with the team at the Curragh who are all doing such great work. It is hard work but we're delighted to be doing it.”
Whatever beliefs each of us hold, it is impossible to deny that, either in spirit or influence, Pat Smullen is still making his mark. In Ireland and beyond, he was revered as a great sportsman. His greater legacy, however, is inspiring all who remember him with love and admiration to continue his final and most important piece of work.
Further details of the Pat Smullen Pancreatic Cancer Fund can be found here.
Cancer Trials Ireland, the national organisation dedicated to advancing cancer clinical trials, will create a new position to anchor expertise in pancreatic research in Ireland with the ambition of creating a global centre for treatment and research for a form of cancer with some of the poorest outcomes–the Pat Smullen Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at University College Dublin.
The position will require shared time between clinical work as a treating physician at St Vincent's University Hospital–the national surgical centre for pancreatic cancer–and research work at University College Dublin (UCD). Candidates from Ireland and abroad are expected to apply.
The role is named in memory of Pat Smullen, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in September 2020. Through his efforts, the Irish horse racing and breeding industry over Irish Champions Weekend in September 2019 raised €2.6 million for Cancer Trials Ireland's pancreatic cancer trials and awareness.
“The Pat Smullen Pancreatic Cancer Fund arises from various fundraising endeavours undertaken by champion jockey, Pat Smullen, his family, and the horse racing community, following his diagnosis with pancreatic cancer in March 2018. The inaugural fundraising event raised €2.6 million with further fundraising events having raised an additional €367,000 to date,” said Eibhlin Mulroe, CEO of Cancer Trials Ireland. “Sadly, Pat died in September 2020, but his legacy lives on and the fund he created has now provided new treatment options for 174 patients with pancreatic cancer, at no cost to themselves, or to the State.”
For more information on the Pat Smullen Pancreatic Cancer Fund, visit Cancer Trials Ireland.
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. It is also here where the late, great Pat Smullen honed his craft, before being crowned Irish champion jockey on nine separate occasions.
While Tony has relocated to America, where he holds the role of Vice President of Sales at Keeneland, Barry remains an integral part of the family breeding operation, and the pair combined to produce last year's leading 2-year-old Persian Force (Ire) (Mehmas {GB}) from €1,200 mare Vida Amorosa (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}).
Persian Force has recently retired to Tally-Ho Stud, an operation that the Lacys have a close association with, and he will stand for €10,000 in his debut season.
Tom and Barry sat down with Brian Sheerin for this week's Starfield Stud-sponsored Q&A where they discussed their rollercoaster year with Persian Force, mating plans for Vida Amorosa and much more.
Brian Sheerin: It was a special night at the ITBA Awards with you taking home the small breeder of the year award for your exploits with Persian Force.
Tom Lacy: Persian Force was a small foal but, every day we went out to him, we could see him thriving. He grew into a lovely foal but he wasn't nearly as nice a foal as his brother [Gubbass (Ire)]. The main reason why we went back to Mehmas was because Gubbass was such a brilliant foal. When you think about it, we brought an unraced mare to an unproven stallion, who never had a runner before, and then went back to him the following year as well. We had two foals by a stallion who never had a runner. It could have been a disaster and, nine times out of 10 it would have been a disaster, but Mehmas has worked big time.
BS: You said before that you broke the golden rule in bringing an unproven mare to an unproven stallion.
TL: Absolutely. She was a well-bred mare, by Lope De Vega, and a fine big mare to match. Persian Force may not have been a big horse but he was full of courage. Jesus, he gave his best every time he ran. He'd put his head down, his ears back and he'd kill himself trying. That's number one for me, a horse who has a bit of fight and courage. But because the first foal was a good foal, I went back to Mehmas. Now, if it had been the other way round, and Persian Force came out first, I wouldn't have gone back. I was talking to Tony [O'Callaghan, of Tally-Ho Stud] who said he reckons Persian Force will end up being 16hh. You have to remember that these are only babies, they are only 2-year-olds when they are retired to stud, so there's plenty of growing in him. He's plenty big enough as he is but they reckon he'll grow, just like Mehmas did when he was retired to stud.
BS: So who owes who a drink at this stage?
Barry Lacy: Let's put it this way, when Mehmas went to stud first, it was the usual craic with everyone rolling in behind the first-season sire. But we didn't use Mehmas the first year he went to stud because we didn't have a mare suitable. It was in his second year at stud where we used him and got Gubbass and his third year when we got Persian Force. So, we used Mehmas for his smallest books of mares. Persian Force was always going to be Mehmas's best 2-year-old last year, because he'd very little else to run for him. He didn't cover huge books during Covid either, so, he could have a quiet year this year but then we're expecting to see him take off again next year and beyond because it's from 2021 when people started sending him the better quality mares on the €25,000 stud fee. So, when you're asking who owes who a drink, I'd say we're in front!
BS: Not too many people are in front of the O'Callaghans!
TL: Sure, we're always arguing. They came over here to look at Persian Force as a foal. The three boys-Tony, Roger and Henry-but they never said a word about the horse, whether he was good, bad or indifferent. They came in here and watched racing for the afternoon and never mentioned the horse any more but then went and paid €75,000 for him at the sales. They were going to buy him no matter what. They gave away the game because, when they say nothing, you know they like them. If they found any hole in Persian Force at all, you could be sure they'd have made a big thing about it! It was the same with Gubbass. They came over to look at him and never said a word, went to the sales and bought him as well. They are great men.
BS: Between Gubbass and Persian Force, you have had a lot of fun over the past few years.
BL: I'd say that one of the biggest kicks we have gotten in racing was watching Gubbass winning the Super Sprint S. at Haydock. He was in the Tattersalls Ireland September Yearling Sale, which took place at Newmarket because of Covid. I asked Roger [O'Callaghan] if we could sell him under the Tally-Ho banner and he said it was no problem if I went over and helped them out at the sale. The morning that we're loading up Gubbass to bring him over for the sale, a call comes through to say that Pat Smullen has sadly passed away. Pat had worked here for years and is obviously a local hero. Roger told me that, if I couldn't go to the sale, he would understand completely. I gave Roger my word that I'd help him out at the sale and it's not like I could go to the funeral in any case because of Covid so we continued with the plan. We thought he was a 50 grand yearling all day long but he only made 26 or 27 grand at the sale. We always felt that he was a racehorse so when he won first time up and then went on to the Super Sprint, we were delighted. The other thing is, we are a small operation and if we approached one of the bigger outfits to do a foal share, they'd just tell us to go away and not be annoying them. So what do you do? We can't go spending 30 or 40 grand on a proven sire as we had an unproven mare at the time and, the only thing we had to go by on the pedigree is that her half-sister Queen Of Power had an Acclamation colt who made €130,000 as a foal. He ended up being a good horse for Charlie Hills and is probably a major reason why we went to a son of Acclamation (GB) in Mehmas with Vida Amorosa (Ire).
BS: It's often the case that a mare catches fire just when she's gone too old. You don't have that problem with Vida Amorosa.
BL: She's just turned nine and is in foal to Starman (GB). It was this time last year when we were over in Tally-Ho and Roger said to me, 'Bar, this 2-year-old [Persian Force] could be the real deal.' I said, 'great, let's send the mare back to Mehmas.' He says, 'No, you won't, you'll go to Starman.' You hear it time and time again, that this horse is good and that horse is good, but you want to see them go and prove it. I thought, fine, let Persian Force prove he's a good one and, if he is as good as everyone says he is, then we can always go to Mehmas the following year.
BS: We're busy putting together our mating plans pieces in TDN, so what plans have ye made on that front?
BL: The bottom line is, if Vida Amorosa goes in foal to Mehmas, whether she has a filly or a colt, it doesn't matter. In actual fact, the filly is probably worth as much if not more to us. It's the logical choice. If you don't go to Mehmas, where do you go?
TL: As I said to Barry, you could go to Acclamation, the sire of Mehmas. It's the same line. He's had a great run as a sire.
BS: How many mares do you have to make mating plans for?
BL: We've only got two mares to foal this year, the smallest bunch we've ever had. We'd a lovely Danehill Dancer (Ire) mare, whose first foal ended up being Different Gravey (Ire) for Nicky Henderson, but she's retired now. She looked like she was going to be a very good National Hunt broodmare at one stage but it was a total disaster. We bought a lovely Australia (GB) mare last year but she died foaling. That's why we've the lowest number of mares we've ever had between retiring mares and just a bit of bad luck.
TL: Some of them just weren't up to scratch. They were only ordinary and you don't want to be breeding ordinary mares. If they're not good, they're a waste of time.
BS: Getting back to the awards night, John O'Connor of Ballylinch Stud presented you with your trophy, which is quite significant given he purchased Ingabelle off you. Of course, Ingabelle has gone on to be an important foundation mare at Ballylinch.
TL: We bred Ingabelle and sold a half share in her before she ever hit the racecourse but, when her racing career was over, her owners didn't have any interest in breeding from her so we sold her. If we didn't sell the half-share to begin with, we'd never have sold her ourselves, but we couldn't hang on to her. I saw Ballylinch put up a lovely picture congratulating me on the award on social media the other day and they mentioned Ingabelle and how she became an important foundation mare for them. We go back a good few years.
BL: She was a very significant filly. I used to ride her out every morning before school. She was a great barometer for me. For years afterwards, you'd ride something and you could say, 'yea, that's nice, but it's no Ingabelle.' I was very lucky that I was able to sit up on something so good at a young age. It's like sitting into a good car. The good horses are very hard to find and the problem is, for a place like this, once you stumble across one, you have to sell to keep the whole thing going. They are hard to hang on to. Dad would have had 10 people working here through the '70s to the '90s. That's lots of wages and lots of owners to look after. There were 40 or 50 horses riding out here every morning for over 30 years.
TL: We had some great times. It's a great lifestyle and you get a great kick out of when things go well.
BS: When did you retire?
BL: You haven't had your trainers' licence for over 10 years now, Dad.
TL: Staff was the biggest problem. It was impossible to get staff. If you don't have good riders, you're at nothing, because a bad rider would ruin a good horse. You need good lads riding out.
BL: We had some great people working here and, during the mid-'90s, Pat Smullen was our stable jockey. Every lad in his 60s or 70s around here, they either worked here or in the bog during the summer at one stage in their lives.
BS: Do you miss the training, Tom?
TL: You miss good horses. I remember I needed a companion for Ingabelle so I went and bought a horse for 1,200 pounds at the sales. He turned out to be Welsh Bard and he was as good as Ingabelle. He was a late foal, which is why we got him cheap, but he won a 2-year-old race in May at Down Royal. I can remember Declan Gillespie rode him to win at Down Royal and, when he got down off him, he said, 'how good is Ingabelle!' He'd been riding the two of them work so he knew exactly what we had.
BL: That was the Monday and Ingabelle was running at Tipperary on the Thursday. I can remember looking up at the boards when I was leading her around the parade ring and she was 14-1. By the time they got down to the start, she was the 5-2 favourite. She bolted up by five lengths. Days like that were brilliant.
BS: Could you sum up your emotion for being recognised by your peers at the ITBA Awards?
TL: Honest to God, no. None, that's the truth now. You work hard and enjoy the whole year and I looked forward to him running the very same as if I owned him myself. I looked forward so much to seeing him run. We went over to see him win at Newbury and got to speak to Richard Hannon before the race. He told us to come into the winner's enclosure three hours before the race, unbelievably cocky.He knew he had a good horse. It's very difficult to get a good mare, very difficult. Go to the sales and try and buy a good mare, the majority of them are no good and, the ones you want, you can't buy them.
BL: The dam sire is hugely important. We'd been on the lookout for a Lope De Vega mare for years before we bought Vida Amorosa.
BS: Has there been many inquiries about the mare?
BL: There have been enquiries but no real offers.
TL: A few people rang to see if we were interested in selling her but we're not. If you were to sell a mare like that, it would be very easy to flutter away the money and you'd have nothing to show for it, whereas you'd find it hard to find one as good again. Never say never, but we're not thinking of selling her.
BS: Have you got a mare to send Persian Force this year?
BL: There's a Red Clubs (Ire) mare out there called Style (Ire). Her son, Pagan (Ire) (Sir Prancealot {Ire}), won twice for William Haggas and is doing well out in Saudi Arabia now. She could go to Persian Force.
BS: You touched on Pat Smullen, Rhode's most famous son, earlier. You gave him his first winner and I'm sure you've many fond memories of him.
TL: He used to come up here every Saturday and Sunday and go racing pony racing on the Sundays as well. He'd get a fiver a ride and ended up being a champion pony race rider. When he was old enough, I brought him up to the Turf Club to get his licence. I remember that they were slow about giving him his licence because pony racing was against the rules but, anyway, after his first or second race riding for me, I knew he was good. He rode like a good jockey from an early stage. After he rode in two or three races for us, he rode everything for us, because we felt even back then that he was as good if not better than the rest of the other jockeys. And he was. He never rode a bad race for us. You could never blame the jockey when Pat rode for you.
BL: He was here about two years before he had his first winner on the track which was May 1993. I remember going up to Dundalk with Pat where he rode one for us to finish fourth. He was beaten three short heads, it was a blanket finish, but Mick Kinane wouldn't have rode our horse any better. You often see the ride of the month going to a winning ride but this ride, to finish fourth, was as good a ride as there was. I remember coming down off the stand and thinking that Pat Smullen was brilliant. He was claiming seven pounds but he was a stone ahead of any other apprentice out there.
TL: He was heavy as a claimer and he used to live in the sauna here. I remember thinking he would be a good bet to be champion jockey. I would have got great odds.
BL: There was no Curragh messing with Pat. His parents kept his feet on the ground and he was champion apprentice here twice. He went from here to John Oxx's and then, after a year there, went riding for Dermot Weld.
TL: I used to tell him to communicate what he thought after a race and he was brilliant at it. Tell the trainer, truly, this fella wants further or whatever. That's what you're being paid for. Don't just jump down. Tell them exactly what you think.
BL: That's what Pat was renowned for. He was able to explain and he understood how to talk to trainers and owners. That's why they loved him.
BS: Rhode has punched above its sporting weight for years with Pat flying the flag for the village and then last year La Petite Coco (Ire), Minzaal (Ire) and Persian Force, all of whom were bred in the area, recording major successes on the track. You must be proud of the village.
TL: There's three group winners from a five-mile radius. There's four stud farms in the area, with Frances Smullen there as well, and it's only a matter of time before she produces a real good one.
BS: There's plenty more to look forward to with Vida Amorosa. Has there been any reports on her Inns Of Court (Ire) 2-year-old?
BL: He was bought by Amo Racing. He was a lovely horse. Physically, he was probably the nicest foal out of the mare but he won't be as precocious as the other lads.
TL: He won't be early, he'll take a bit of time.
BL: He looks as though he'll be at his best at three. Even at the Orby, he looked a little leggy.
BS: It's obvious that you both have a great relationship with the O'Callaghans.
BL: They're brilliant. A little horse we bred, Roundabout Magic (Ire) won a little race at Lingfield on New Year's Eve a couple of years ago. He is only a pony and Hollie Doyle looked big on him. Anyway, he hadn't crossed the line five minutes and Tony rings, asking if he had a half-brother. 'He does,' says I, 'but he's by Morpheus.' 'Sure I'll come down and have a look at him,' Tony says. On he comes, to look at this Morpheus yearling. We had gelded him because Morpheus was a complete disaster and we were half thinking of sending this lad to the store sales. But Tony came looking at this lad with a view towards breezing him after his half-brother won a little Class 6 at Lingfield. They didn't buy him because we gelded him, but that's how game he is, he'd come here on New Year's Eve to look at buying a little Morpheus of ours to breeze. They're brilliant people to work with.
Announcing the Pat Smullen Chair in Pancreatic Cancer at UCD!! A partnership of 
(@cancertrials_ie) 