By John Berry
The death of Kevin Prendergast, the doyen of the Irish trainers' ranks, at the age of 92 represents the end of an era. The Prendergast dynasty has been at the forefront of Irish racing for longer than pretty much anyone can remember and Kevin very much continued the family tradition of success.
For many, Kevin Prendergast was the archetypal Irish trainer, which was ironic as he was famously and accurately described by Bart Cummings as “an Australian who trains in Ireland”. Kevin's father Paddy (often known as 'Darkie') spent some time as a young man riding over jumps in Australia; and Kevin, his eldest son, was born in Melbourne in July 1932. However, Paddy soon returned home with his young family, set up as a trainer at the Curragh in 1940 and, alongside Vincent O'Brien, went on to change the face of Irish racing.
Ireland in the post-war era was a very different place to the prosperous country which we know now, to the extent that it was unthinkable that an Irish-based trainer could be champion trainer of Great Britain. Paddy Prendergast won the first of his six Irish trainers' titles in 1950 but his most significant landmark came in 1963 when he did the unthinkable by becoming the first Irish-based trainer to head the list in Great Britain. His 19 British wins that year included the Oaks with Noblesse; the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the St Leger with the Irish Derby winner Ragusa; and the Eclipse Stakes with Khalkis. He was then Britain's champion again in both 1964 and '65 before Vincent O'Brien topped the table in 1966. (O'Brien subsequently won the championship again in 1977).
The legacy of Paddy Prendergast (who remained a successful trainer for life, sending out Nikoli to win the Irish 2,000 Guineas only a month before his death at the age of 69 in June 1980) was so enormous that 'Darkie' could have been a hard act to follow, but both Kevin and his younger brother Paddy did their name proud.
As a young man Kevin was one of Ireland's best and most successful amateur riders, while starting to prepare for his training career. He returned to the land of his birth in 1953 to work for successful Sydney-based trainer Frank Dalton before coming home three years later to become his father's assistant, a position which he held for six years until taking out his own trainer's licence in 1963. He saddled his first winner in May of that year, aged 30, when Zara scored at Phoenix Park. His final victory came more than 61 years later when Copie Conforme won at Bellewstown last August; while his final runner turned out to be Glory To Be, who finished second at Cork last week.
Few trainers have ever operated at the top level for longer than Kevin Prendergast. A perfect illustration is provided by his roll of honour of Classic success, which began in 1972 when Pidget won both the Irish 1,000 Guineas and the Irish St Leger and ended 44 years later when Awtaad took the Irish 2,000 Guineas. Awtaad's triumph was his trainer's second victory in that colts' Classic, a race he had won 40 years previously in 1976 with Northern Treasure. That same month, May 1976, saw Prendergast unleash a colt who would turn out to be an even better miler.
Nebbiolo, who had failed to reach a 3,000-guinea reserve as a yearling before being sent to Prendergast's stable by his Danish breeder Nelson Schibbiye, finished third on debut at Leopardstown but then won his next five races, his sequence culminating with victory in the G2 Gimcrack Stakes at York. As a three-year-old he did even better, beating Tachypous (to whom he had finished second in the G1 Middle Park Stakes at Newmarket the previous autumn) and subsequent dual Derby hero The Minstrel in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket, ridden by long-time stable jockey Gabriel 'Squibs' Curran.
An even greater horse subsequently arrived in Kevin Prendergast's stable. The horses transferred to him on the death of his father included the four-year-old Ardross, winner the previous year of the G2 Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh. During the summer of 1980 the stable's new recruit helped to light up Britain's Cup races, finishing a close second to the Henry Cecil-trained Le Moss in all three legs of the stayers' Triple Crown, ie the Gold Cup at Ascot, the Goodwood Cup and the Doncaster Cup, before winning the Jockey Club Cup at Newmarket in the autumn. When Le Moss was retired at the end of the year it seemed as if Ardross had naturally become champion stayer-elect. The great horse did, of course, indeed become Europe's champion stayer of both 1981 and '82 (and Britain's Horse of the Year of 1982) but by this time he had been bought by Charles St George and transferred to Cecil's care.
Like his father (who saddled six winners of the Coventry Stakes at Royal Ascot), Kevin Prendergast was a master across both the age and the distance range. Four Irish St Leger wins (including two with the admirable Oscar Schindler, whose splendid career included a trip to his trainer's home town to start favourite in the Melbourne Cup in 1996) were augmented by high-class two-year-old success with the likes of Bradawn Breever, Verglas, Miss Beatrix, Termagant, Kingsfort, and La Collina.
Any 'Life and Times' overview of Kevin Prendergast's wonderful life would be filled with great characters. Many of Ireland's best and most popular jockeys rode for him over the years, including in recent years Declan McDonagh and Chris Hayes; while Oscar Schindler's jockey Stephen Craine worked for him for decades, staying on in the stable as an assistant after retiring from the saddle. Furthermore, he was a master tutor of apprentices including the late, much-missed David Parnell, whose father David ('Buster') had ridden with great success for 'Darkie'. Like his father before him, Kevin also brought several Australian riders to Ireland over the years, including Laurie Johnson, Paul Jarman, Wayne Harris and Rodney Griffiths.
Paying tribute to his mentor, Chris Hayes said, “I started off with him in RACE in 2003. I started off calling him 'Sir' and that transferred into 'Boss'. He was like a father and grandfather figure to me in the latter years. I'd like to think we had a good bond and I knew what way he wanted his horses to be ridden and what suited him.
“It's the end of an era. The word legend is thrown around a little bit too much in this day and age but when you mention Kevin Prendergast you are mentioning a legend. I have such fond, fond memories.”
Most notably, Kevin Prendergast's ownership ranks contained many great names. Any list of the stable's patrons, past or present, has to be headed by Eamon de Valera (as President of Ireland, when horses which the Irish National Stud put into training ran in the name of the President) and also includes such great patrons of the turf as Sheikh Hamdan al Maktoum, the Maharani of Baroda, the More O'Ferrell family of Kildangan Stud, Robert Sangster, Lady O'Reilly, Moyglare Stud, and the Guinness family; as well as Frank Barry of Manister House Stud, alongside whom the trainer unearthed many bargains at yearling sales over the years. The link between those two great friends was further strengthened by the success of the Manister House-bred La Collina (Strategic Prince) whom Prendergast bought for £42,000 as a yearling in 2010 at Doncaster and then trained for Joerg Vasicek of Kenilworth House Stud to win the G1 Keeneland Phoenix Stakes at the Curragh as a two-year-old and the G1 Coolmore Matron Stakes at Leopardstown as a four-year-old.
At Ascot on Friday, Angus Gold, racing manager to Shadwell, said, “It's a truly sad day. Kevin was a wonderful enthusiast and such a great character with a story for every occasion. He was obviously a good trainer but he was also an incredible horseman. His horses were always immaculately turned out and he was a great feeder.”
He continued, “I was with Sheikh Hamdan for 35 years and he was already there when I arrived. They knew each other for years and had a great relationship. Sheikh Hamdan loved their relationship and I loved my mornings spent with him. I was fortunate to see him a few months ago and he knew everything that was going on. He retained such enthusiasm for life and for horses right until the end. He was a dear man – one of my heroes.”
Truly the doyen of Irish racing, Kevin Prendergast was among Europe's best and most successful trainers for decades. A byword for integrity, he was respected greatly for his success and at least as much so for his personal qualities. Irish racing won't be the same without him and we offer our condolences to his family and many friends.
Trailblazer.
Remembering Kevin Prendergast. One of the all-time greats of the Irish training ranks who has left an indelible mark on racing
Over 2,000 winners
Nine Classics
Four Royal Ascot winners pic.twitter.com/WqNgvxoEpH— Horse Racing Ireland (@HRIRacing) June 20, 2025
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