RACING has lost a legend of its sport with the passing of long-time National Hunt trainer Edward O’Grady of Thurles, County Tipperary, aged 75.
He was king of Cheltenham before the arrival of such figures as Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliot.
Indeed, it was O’Grady who supplied JP McManus of Martinstown with the first of his 80-plus wins at Prestbury Park.
This was courtesy of the gambled-on Mister Donovan in the 1982 Sun Alliance Hurdle.
“We loaded up on him,” McManus recalled in more recent times to the Racing Post. “I hadn’t owned the horse for very long, but he had been laid out for the race. I don’t remember quite how much we had on but it was important at the time anyway.
He added: “I often wonder whether I would have been able to have any of the others if Mister Donovan had been beaten. My most important one at Cheltenham must have been the first one. He was needed.”
For the record, Mister Donovan was ridden by Tommy Ryan, who worked as Head Lad with O’Grady for an astonishing 55 years until his retirement at 70 last year.
