Weld hails 'extremely talented' Grey Swallow as Irish Derby hero dies aged 20

Dermot Weld has hailed his 2004 Irish Derby winner Grey Swallow as an extremely talented and tough performer after the Classic hero's death at the age of 20 in the US.

A five-time stakes winner – including twice at the highest level – he memorably provided the late Pat Smullen with a first win in the Irish Derby and spent his final years at Willow Hill Equestrian, a Virginia operation run by Dublin-born Tommy Doyle and his wife Sarah.

"It was a joy to see him finish his days there and I was very proud of how well he was maintained into his old age," Weld told the Racing Post.

Grey Swallow: had been enjoying the final years of his life in Virginia

"The nice thing was that the Doyles kept in touch with me regularly, sending photographs of the horse via email, and I have to emphasise that he looked magnificent. He was having a very happy semi-retirement and just seemed to have a heart attack and died."

He added: "One thing that stood out about that particular Irish Derby was that the 1-2-3-4 from the Derby at Epsom were all in the line-up at the Curragh. It was a brilliant ride from Pat Smullen and a fantastic performance."

Weld is no stranger to taking the wraps off a top-quality two-year-old at the Galway festival and Grey Swallow's first start at Ballybrit resulted in a sensational ten-length success before going on to land the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes by eight lengths on his next outing.

"He was unbeaten in both his starts at two, ending the season as the champion juvenile of Ireland, and his winning debut at the Galway festival was hugely impressive," said the Rosewell trainer.

"He came up that hill like few horses have ever done at Galway. I can remember Brendan Sheridan was the judge that day and he said it was one of the most spectacular performances he'd seen at Galway.

"He was always an extremely talented and tough horse and he was bred by my mother [Marguerite] at Springbank Way Stud. She also part-owned him during his racing career."

Weld added: "He managed to beat the previous season's Arc winner Bago when winning the Tattersalls Gold Cup on his first start at four.

"The following season I took him to California where he won a Grade 2 at Hollywood Park and he was later sold to Australia as a stallion. He also stood at Calumet Farm in America in more recent times."

Read today's most popular stories . . .

Ban on jockeys riding at multiple meetings to continue in 2022

Head injury victim Harriet Bethell aiming to raise £25,000 with Pontefract charity walk

McCoy relishing return of Cheltenham roar with crowds back for jumps season

Ultimate Daily – our daily newsletters from Racing Post's experts, exclusive to the inbox of Ultimate Members' Club subscribers. To receive the newsletter subscribe here