Lynam Travels Far to Go Short

by Aisling Crowe

Forty years on from the Rumble in the Jungle, racing has its own titanic tussle that will have fans in multiple time zones setting alarm clocks or staying up late. The clash of the flying horses is on as Slade Power (Ire) (Dutch Art {GB}) has been given the go ahead for a heavyweight sprinting contest against Lankan Rupee (Aus) (Redoute’s Choice {Aus}) and Chautauqua (Aus) (Encosta de Lago {Aus}) in Flemington’s G1 Darley Classic Saturday. 

Eddie Lynam has flown Slade Power halfway across the globe from Ireland to Australia to take on the fastest horses in the Southern Hemisphere with the 5-year-old he has nurtured from before he was born. Along with owners the Power family, Lynam bred the five year old son of Dutch Art who will take up stallion duties for Darley at Kildangan Stud in Co Kildare in the spring. That connection has made the two Group 1’s he has already won this season an incredibly special achievement for the trainer. 

“Only people who breed racehorses would know how special it is,” Lynam offered. “Yeah, buying one and owning it and training it and winning at Royal Ascot is brilliant, but breeding one is just that little bit better.” 

He continued, “I think the whole thing is I’m partners with [owners David and Sabena Power] in him and in the whole family. I’m training him for them and they basically let you make all the decisions from what stallion you’re using to how you’re going to rear them the whole way along; where you’re going to run next. They are the perfect owner in that they don’t interfere, they support you 110% and they have the added ingredient in being very, very lucky and we are very, very lucky to train for them.” 

Lynam’s horses have clocked up more frequent flyer miles than the average Thoroughbred, as the trainer is not afraid to travel his stars in search of glory with the limited sprint dates on the racing calendar in Ireland and Europe. 

Last year, Slade Power journeyed to Hong Kong with stable companion Sole Power (GB) (Kyllachy {GB}), who has a collection of international stamps on his passport. This year’s G1 King’s Stand S. and G1 Nunthorpe S. hero has run in Hong Kong, Dubai and France as well as England and Ireland during his career and will run next month in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint at Sha Tin. 

“Sole Power is a great traveller–he has been second in a Group 1 in Dubai and a Group 1 in Hong Kong,” Lynam noted. “He beat all the local horses in Hong Kong and Slade Power and they were good horses, and he got beaten by the best sprinter in the world [in Lord Kanaloa {Jpn}], who was Horse of the Year in Japan.” 

Europe has only three top-level sprints over six furlongs for older horses, so travel is a necessity for Lynam and other Irish trainers with sizzling sprinters in their yards. Transporting horses hundreds and even thousands of miles is no easy task, he admits. 

“It is a hard ask for a trainer to go and compete in England,” he revealed. “The easy option is to run in Leopardstown or The Curragh. It is a bolder move to go abroad. A lot of trainers have done very well by travelling–Evanna McCutcheon and the people who have had Maarek (GB); Tom Hogan with Gordon Lord Byron (Ire)–so it can be done.” 

The thrust of Lynam’s success has been with the speedsters. His third Royal Ascot winner alongside the Powers was Anthem Alexander (Ire) (Starspangledbanner {Aus}) in this year’s G2 Queen Mary S., but with another juvenile filly, he hopes to enjoy success at a longer distance. 

Agnes Stewart (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) is one of the leading fancies for next year’s G1 Irish 1000 Guineas and possibly even the G1 Irish Oaks after her success in the G2 May Hill S. at Doncaster in September, which she followed up with a close second place behind Together Forever (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) in the G1 Fillies’ Mile last month. If the grey follows through on her promise, then Lynam may get to live out a dream. 

“I suppose, deep down, I like speed and I could never buy your Derby type of horse,” he said. “The way they are bred, I couldn’t be able to buy one. If you are going to win a Derby, you need to buy a Galileo or a Montjeu or something like that and we are not in that bracket. I love training sprinters and I think I understand them, but I love training milers too if I could get a few of them!” 

“I just like fast horses,” he smiles. 

If Slade Power lands a knock-out blow in tomorrow’s Darley Classic, Lynam will have the fastest horse of them all.