\u201cKevin wouldn\u2019t be shy about telling you if you gave one a bad ride. He\u2019d ring me up and say, \u2018You gave that a terrible ride. What were you doing?\u2019 That\u2019s him,\u201d said Hayes. \u201cBut, at the same time, he\u2019d tell you when you gave one a good ride. The thing I love about him is that nothing ever festered. We have had our disagreements over the years but nothing was ever thrown back in your face. You ride for him in the next race and everything is forgotten. I loved that about him.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Trainer](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/\/ab55d48a-039e-4ee3-bd6b-7865c6461e90.jpg\")
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Kevin Prendergast with Awtaad. He almost won a Derby with Madhmoon in 2019<\/p>\n
ALAMY<\/p>\n
The grandson of Pat Prendergast, who was reputed to have a shrewd eye for a good horse in Carlow, and the son of Paddy \u201cDarkie\u201d Prendergast, he was a leading amateur jockey before taking out a trainer\u2019s licence in 1963. From Pidget\u2019s victory in the 1000 Guineas in 1972, he would go on to win eight classics in Ireland, the last of which was Awtaad\u2019s victory in the 2000 Guineas in 2016. In England, he won the 2,000 Guineas with Nebbiolo at Newmarket in 1977. He came close to adding a Derby winner in 2019 through Madhmoon<\/a>.<\/p>\n Prendergast had winners over seven decades of training. In spite of his distinguished antecedents, he had to make his own way until he took over his father\u2019s string. \u201cI began with two horses and ten broken-down boxes,\u201d he told Racing TV. \u201cIt was very difficult to go on my own and I had to gamble to survive. There was no other way \u2014 there was no money in Ireland.\u201d Even the best horse he trained, Ardross \u2014 \u201cby a mile\u201d \u2014 had to be sold. \u201cFor money,\u201d he emphasised.<\/p>\n Matters improved. Three years after starting as a trainer, Ireland\u2019s president at the time, \u00c9amon de Valera, became a client, and the patronage of the third Earl of Iveagh proved a boon. \u201cHe had five or six horses with me and he was a good man, the top person in the Guinness family and was only 55 when he died. He would come and have a drink with me \u2014 he had his own driver. I was guaranteed a cheque coming in and then I could buy one or two horses. And I was lucky with my foreign owners.\u201d<\/p>\n Kevin Prendergast was born in 1932 in Melbourne, owing to his father having gone to Australia to find work as a jockey. \u201cPJ\u201d was to return to Ireland when his son was two, sending him to school in Co Kildare. Although Kevin was expelled from the Dominican Newbridge College, he was able to continue his schooling at Rockwell College, Co Tipperary, a rugby-playing establishment, owing to being a talented forward. \u201cI did poorly in school but on the rugby pitch I wasn\u2019t serving the orange slices at half-time.\u201d<\/p>\n He and his younger brother, Paddy Jr, who differentiated from their father by being known as \u201cLong Paddy\u201d on account of his height, would have to run around at night in bare feet trying to keep 22 donkeys out of ditches. Their grandfather had brought these back from Castledermot to sell them on in Manchester. Paddy, who predeceased his brother, also became a trainer, enjoying success at festivals in Ireland.<\/p>\n Prendergast claimed he was lucky to obtain good owners<\/p>\n ALAN CROWHURST\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n When Kevin left school as a 17-year-old, he was to return to Australia for five years, working near Sydney as a trainer\u2019s assistant. Back in Ireland, his Irish vowels still intact, he became his father\u2019s assistant at Rossmore Lodge on the Curragh while forging a life as an amateur jockey with no little success. After taking out his training licence he rode his own first winner, Zara, at Phoenix Park, a racecourse which subsequently closed.<\/p>\n![\"Close-up](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/\/51c99cce-2b6b-498c-84fb-5db5e780468c.jpg\")
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