Wipe away the tears as we say a fond farewell to The Hairy Lemon

March 4

There won’t be a dry eye at Barbury should Masaccio win one of those big handicap chases at Cheltenham next week, or for the matter if Dickens bags a somewhat smaller prize at Hereford on Saturday.

Both horses were part-owned by Niall Farrell, who passed away last week-end. Niall shared a lot of horses with Max McNeill, including Masaccio, and over the last 22 years he grew to not only be one of the most popular owners in Alan’s yard but he also grew to become a great friend of the boss.

Alan said:”The first horse he had for me was The Hairy Lemon, who won seven races, split between hurdles and fences., but the best that Niall was involved in was Primitivo, who carried his colours when winning the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot.

“That was a day which I’ll never forget, my first winner at my favourite meeting of the entire year, and The Hairy Lemon carried on winning after we sold him to race in Hong Kong.

“We knew that Niall had not been well for some time, but it was a big shock on Saturday morning when we got the call to say he’d gone. We never had a cross word all the time I trained for him, and I’ll miss him greatly.”

The Hairy Lemon was named after an unconventional iconic pub in Dublin, where the 1991 film ‘The Commitments’ was filmed with years of memorabilia all over the walls.

The pub itself was christened in memory of one of the City’s greatest characters, who was a dog catcher for the police in the 1950’s, He was reputed to boast a lemon-shaped face with the complexion of his skin akin to that particular fruit. Hence the name of the horse whose seven victories came on seven different tracks.