'He was a brilliant Curragh trainer and part of a wonderful family' - John Oxx pays tribute to Paddy Prendergast jnr

John Oxx has described Paddy Prendergast jnr as a "brilliant trainer" and an "amusing character" following his former Curragh colleague's death at the age of 88 this week.

One of the most recognisable faces on Irish racecourses during a career that lasted from the early-1960s until 2002, Prendergast's height gave rise to the nickname 'Long Paddy' among punters, in order to distinguish him from his father, the Curragh trainer of the same name who founded an Irish racing dynasty.

An affable and popular character, Prendergast did not enjoy quite the same remarkable longevity as a trainer as his brother Kevin but was an astute operator who placed his horses intelligently and was notably successful at targeting races at Ireland's traditional festivals.

Oxx said: "Paddy was a very good trainer, very shrewd. He always placed his horses well and his horses looked immaculate, always beautifully turned out with lovely, healthy coats. You would pick his horses out which is always a great sign.

"More than that, he was just a very nice man. He was very popular and everyone liked him. He was a very amusing character with a great sense of humour. It was always a pleasure to meet Paddy and have a chat with him. I used to see him regularly as he trained quite close to me and he was a great man and a credit to his profession. He was a brilliant Curragh trainer and part of a wonderful family."

While Kevin ventured to Australia to further his racing education as a young man, Paddy jnr, as he was more formally known, crossed the Atlantic and had a spell as assistant to celebrated trainer 'Sunny Jim' Fitzsimmons before taking out a licence in Florida in 1962. He soon returned to Ireland and took up residence at Melitta Lodge on the Curragh, where his brother had supervised the Irish fortunes of the vastly wealthy US owner-breeder Elizabeth Whitney Tippett.

The two brothers began training independently at a time when their father, seven-time Irish champion and champion trainer in Britain in three successive seasons between 1963 and 1965, was at the height of his powers. 'Junior' soon made an impact when Arctic Melody won the Musidora Stakes and the Athasi Stakes in 1965, ridden by the Australian Garnie Bougoure. Arctic Melody's mating with the Arc winner Levmoss produced Le Melody, the dam of the great Ardross.

Prendergast, who recorded his most important success in Britain when Cooliney Prince took the Windsor Castle Stakes at Royal Ascot in 1980, won the Ballymoss Stakes, the forerunner of the Tattersalls Gold Cup, with Assertive in 1972 and Evening M'Lord in 1983, and the 1976 Anglesey Stakes with Readjust.

A successful dual-purpose trainer noted for producing well-prepared bumper horses and intensively schooled juvenile hurdlers, he won the Punchestown race now known as the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle with Seldom Dry in 1979 and two years later with Tie Anchor who captured the Champion Novice Hurdle in the same year.

He liked to secure the services of the "best available'' jockey and in 1989 he saddled The Proclamation to win the Champion Novice Hurdle at Punchestown under Richard Dunwoody, while in 1990 Pat Eddery was aboard for the victory of Grand Morning in the Marble Hill Stakes at the Curragh.

His other big-race wins included the 1972 Irish Cambridgeshire with Assertive, the Irish Lincolnshire twice with Assertive in 1974 and Soundproof in 1994, and Galway's McDonogh Handicap twice, with Readjust in 1978 and Rare Duke in 1980, ridden by Mark Dwyer and providing a popular Ballybrit success for the O'Malley family from Galway.

Prendergast also trained the dual Classic-placed Flair Path, later a jumps sire responsible for dual Stayers' Hurdle winner Galmoy, as well as the subsequent 1981 dual Oaks heroine Blue Wind in her 1980 juvenile campaign prior to her sale and transfer to the Dermot Weld stable.

Following his retirement, he passed the baton to his son Patrick who gave up training in early 2019 after enjoying Group 1 success with Skitter Scatter in the 2018 Moyglare Stud Stakes.

Predeceased by his wife Maura, Prendergast is survived by his son, Patrick, and three daughters Lorraine, Orla and Niamh, and their families. He will repose at McWey's funeral home, Abbeyview, Kildare town from 5pm on Thursday with rosary at 8pm.

He will be removed to St Brigid's Parish Church on Friday morning for requiem mass at 12 noon with burial afterwards in St Peter's Cemetery, Two Mile House. Family flowers only; donations to Kildare Day Care Centre.

PADDY PRENDERGAST

Full name Patrick Joseph Prendergast

Born March 19, 1935

Father Paddy Prendergast (champion trainer in Ireland & Britain)

Assistant to 'Sunny Jim' Fitzsimmons (USA)

Stables Melitta Lodge, the Curragh

Dual Classic-placed horse Flair Path (3rd in Irish 2,000 Guineas & Prix du Jockey Club 1972)

Ballymoss Stakes (now Tattersalls Gold Cup) winners Assertive (1972), Evening M'Lord (1983)

Champion Novice Hurdle winners Tie Anchor (1981), The Proclamation (1989)

Champion 4-Y-O Hurdle winners Seldom Dry (1979), Tie Anchor (1981)

Royal Ascot winner Cooliney Prince (1980 Windsor Castle Stakes)

Other notable winners Arctic Melody (1965 Athasi Stakes, Musidora Stakes; granddam of Ardross), Assertive (1972 Irish Cambridgeshire, 1974 Irish Lincolnshire), Readjust (1976 Anglesey Stakes), Blue Wind (1980 Silken Glider Stakes), Grand Morning (1990 Marble Hill Stakes), Soundproof (1994 Irish Lincolnshire)

Last winner La Golondrina, Galway, September 12, 2001

Compiled by John Randall