Edward O’Grady, one of Ireland’s leading racehorse trainers over the last 50 years, has died aged 75.
Based in Ballynotty, Co Tipperary, O’Grady trained his first Cheltenham Festival winner in 1974 and went on to enjoy 18 victories in all at National Hunt racing’s ultimate meeting.
Most prominent among them was Golden Cygnet, a spectacular winner of the Supreme Novices Hurdle in 1978, who looked to have the racing world at his feet only to sustain fatal injuries in a fall just weeks later.
O’Grady started training in 1972 and saddled his first winner, Vibrax, at Gowran Park in January of that year. He took over the license from his father Willie, who had just died.
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It meant O’Grady, who attended school at Blackrock College in Dublin, had to leave university without finishing a veterinary degree.
He was in the spotlight due to the famous Gay Future controversy in 1974 when the horse of that name was at the centre of a gambling coup by an Irish betting syndicate. O’Grady was later played by Pierse Brosnan in the film ‘Murphy’s Stroke’ based on the matter.
He was also instrumental in introducing the then bookmaker and gambler JP McManus to racehorse ownership.
In 1982 the pair combined to win at Cheltenham with Mister Donovan. McManus backed the horse and later admitted: “He was needed!”
O’Grady was champion National Hunt trainer in Ireland for four years between 1977 and 1980. He flirted with switching his attentions to the flat but returned to the jumps to some effect with star names such as Nick Dundee, Back In Front and Sound Man.
A statement issued by his family through Horse Racing Ireland on Monday said: “It is with profound sadness that we announce the death of Edward O’Grady, who passed away peacefully yesterday evening at St James’s Hospital, surrounded by his family.
“Edward was a cherished husband, father and grandfather and also one of the most respected and successful racehorse trainers of his generation.
“Over the course of an extraordinary career that spanned more than five decades, Edward trained just shy of 1,700 winners under rules. His name became synonymous with Irish National Hunt racing, and he was a formidable force at Cheltenham and across the racing world.
“Beyond the winners and the headlines, Edward was a man of deep intelligence, sharp wit, and remarkable warmth. He had friends on every continent, a story for every occasion, and a lifelong passion for the sport, the hunting field and everything equestrian.”
O’Grady’s second wife, Maria, died in a fall while out hunting in 2017. He is survived by their daughters, Mimi and Rosie Mae, as well as his older children, Jonathan, Amber and Lucy.
