......... A Stroll Down Memory Lane ..........

Not Oliver (Navan-based trainer) but Cathal RIP, tragic end,

And sorry workrider, I don't want to be too pedantic (I know well how memory can be deceiving), but of the five horses trained by Mick Connolly to win the first juvenile race of the season between 1959 and 1981 Johnny Roe was on only one, Melodic King in 1970; others were partnered by Liam Ward, Wally Swinburn, Ron Hutchinson and Christy Roche (in 1981, long after closure of Baldoyle. Details courtesy the late and much-missed Tony Sweeney..

Nice thread lads,    you might enjoy this thread on johnny Roe     http://www.roebloodstock.com/

Sry link

I love these old history related threads.
An old boy who is now deceased told me that they use to have 1m 4f hurdle races at Baldoyle, is that true?

i think you could still do the same on the old Phoenix Park track wr.

1ml 5furs The Gotchee ,thats of course if the old memory is not acting up . Johnnie still going strong ,met him at the Curragh last year and had a little chat with him , he used to pop into my uncles local ,have a few drinks and then leave them with a tip for the following week .  I haven't been along that part of the Navan road for over 20yrs Freddiek , a great track when the evening meetings were on ,always seemed to back a winner there . Correct Alans it was Cathal , what happened to him I never heard .

Died by his own hand.

The Phoenix Park had the second highest attendances and the second highest betting when it closed down,it should never have closed down.
The Phoenix Park was owned by racing people ( the Coolmore mafia for want of a better word ) people who got plenty out of the game,they would only sell to the highest bidder.

Contrast this to the Clarkes who owned Leopardstown,they sold it to the Racing Board for the price of agriculture land in a noble act.

Mind you the Racing Board in a shameful act promptly sold off a tranche of land for building.
Later they didnt even defend the loss of its sprint track to the M50 because they wanted to get their filthy Germans on the compensation.

I wonder would Alans have a view on the Wildman suggestion that the former Park owners transpired to be 'greasy till' merchants rather than altruistic racing people ?

Died by his own hand,from memory the location was Bective Bridge between Trim and Navan

Another one from that era was Pat Black who was stable jockey to Bunny Cox, met a similar end.

Loved Baldoyle , cold and all .  Any time I am in / around Malahide , Portmarnock etc I always make sure I drive past Baldoyle , which still seems to be "intact" .

I had a soft spot for Paddy Powell riding in the "short" hurdle races at Baldoyle . The jockey list annotated earlier is impressive , saw all the golden oldies ( NH mainly) riding around there at some time from late fifties onwards .

Horses like Artic Talisman , Strong Drink , Swamp Fighter , flying down that lightening fast five furlongs , Macaw winning for P.J. .McGraths sending really good horses there , the lovely bus journey along the coast road ,I better stop now before the tears arrive.

stellar man, I'm more comfortable stating facts rather than opinion on a forum like this, but you ask a good question. There were major pressures at the time, the Maktoums had emerged, Sangster's empire was beginning to unravel, other sources of capital investment had been exhausted, so there were mitigating circumstances, but it is hard to forgive those involved with the closure of the Park; the same goes for the debacle of Classic Thoroughbreds.

http://www.rte.ie/radio1/doconone/2012/0702/647106-documentary-podcast-baldo...         RTE 1979 radio documentary on the Baldoyle racecourse.

thanks for that frank...

Alans, am wryly amused by your preference for stating facts rather than opinions on this forum resulting in only 7 contributions in four years , no such foibles among the majority on here ! I loved attending the Park as a youngster and bitterly regretted its demise which was definitely avoidable in my opinion - would feel more aggrieved about that then the demise of my Classic Thoroughbreds shareholding. Thanks for your 'opinion' !