P. Noel Hickey back from 3-year layoff

[Delta Cone]

I was shocked to see that trainer P. Noel Hickey had entered Tour Ireland in the first at Tampa on Wednesday (March 7).

Hickey is an old favorite of mine from my formative years at Arlington. He hasn't entered a horse since 2009.

My fond memories of P. Noel include his training work with outstanding racer and broodmare Lady Shirl, the dam of Breeders' Cup Filly & Mare Turf winner Perfect Shirl (at 27-1.) A sentimental win bet helped save an otherwise mediocre Cup for me. Who would have known that those summers spent studying the turf racing at AP would pay off nearly 18 years later?

Like Hickey, Tour Ireland is coming off a 3-year layoff as well, having last raced Feb. 8, 2009. He had some ability at once, having finished second in the 2008 Calder Derby-G3.

Anyone know more about this unusual case?

[Track Phantom]

I got to know Noel during the summer of 2001 (I believe). He was at Canterbury for a few summers back then.

Kind of interesting how I got to know him. It was a weekday and me and this girl from work (a younger asian girl I was seeing at the time) went to the track after work. We were sitting at a table and betting a race at MNR. This older guy and young girl were at a table right behind us. When I was kind of complaining about a ride in the race, he asked me which horse I had. I told him and he said "that is my horse". At first I thought he meant his, as in he bet on it. I quickly came to realize he meant it was HIS. He was Noel Hickey.

Anyway, he was sitting with Jenna Joubert (who was not a jockey at the time but working horses for him). They were working on coming up with names for the brother of Buck's Boy.

Long story short, this girl and I went to the backside a few times with him, out to dinner a few times and to the winners circle after a couple of wins. Good guy but eventually I came to realize he just really liked asian girls :) (not kidding).

One other thing...he allowed us to name a horse of his. We named it after the asian girl's Korean name (Love Eun Sun). It won its debut but didn't do much after that.

[turninforhome10]

Very smart guy. Made his lick in banking. He was in the barn next to ours at Prairie Meadows. He always had the hottest barn formeman. My favorite quote,
" Only a handful of these jocks understand the quickest way from point A to point B is on the rail" " It is simple math and some are just to simple to do the math"
Welcome Back Mr Hickey.

[thaskalos]

He was an Arlington Park fixture years ago...and he was a powerful force there, especially on the turf.

We never got a satisfactory answer to explain his sudden disappearance. Just some reported dispute between him and Dick Duchossois.

[headhawg]

I met and spoke with Hickey once at AP. Seemed nice enough considering I just went up to him when he was eating lunch. I got the impression he and Christine Janks didn't get along very well. She was in some kind of executive/administration position as well as being a trainer? I can't remember. Anyway, I think that he spoke his mind and the powers-that-be weren't real thrilled with that.

My favorite horse of his was Slew the Slewor. He claimed him for $10-$15K and kept moving him up the ladder (maybe to $50,000?). I think he had him in a minor stakes as well. The horse was apparently hard to deal with -- didn't like the training process apparently. He told me that his previous connections didn't handle him properly because of that. He said that he just showed some patience and the horse improved.

Hickey on the turf was a real good angle for a while, until the public caught on.

[seattlemorn]

It is very odd that he sells most or all of his farm in FL, is not appartently standing any horses any longer, and brings this one back. He was a very good trainer for a long time, wish we would see more of him as he usually sent his horses to the gate with good intentions. I know in IL he was suspended a lot for medication issues, fighting several in court. He owned horses that he didn't train for a while at Mountaineer, and ran some at Canterbury as well. Would see him very rarely start a horse at Calder, but that was several years ago as well. Had Tour Irelandd in my stable mail as was shocked to see this one entered, thought first it was a repeat name. This horse was very talented, but appeared to be out of his mind, was always all over the place while running very fast. If he really isn't gelded maybe this horse is ready to compete again, wouldn't seem a bad gamble to claim him, if he is even sort of right I would suspect if he isn't claimed on Wednesday he gets protected if he runs again. Have to hope Hickey isn't trying to make a quick buck off the claim, would hate to see him needing that kind of money after winning a lot off races as owner trainer in his life. Hope P Noel has a second life training, it would be great to see him win a few more races.

[Track Phantom]

He was an Arlington Park fixture years ago...and he was a powerful force there, especially on the turf.

We never got a satisfactory answer to explain his sudden disappearance. Just some reported dispute between him and Dick Duchossois.

Actually, he "kind of" told us about it but he was a very soft talker and hard to really understand. Basically, he said there were serious confrontations with the owner, Duchossois, and he was basically asked to leave. He never really elaborated on it and I didn't press him on it. I remember asking him about Garrett Gomez, who he used all the time at AP. He said he was a great rider but was way too arogant (which I remember Noel saying about a lot of people).

He was a very interesting guy and I was very happy to get to know him and spend time with him. He really taught me a lot in the short time I got to know him.

One story I do remember quite vividly. There was a turf race one day and he had the #9 (outside runner) in the race (can't recall his name at the moment). Anyway, this runner was 20-1 morning line. We were on the backside that morning and went by the stall of this horse. A vet was going around inspecting the horses. She was a couple of stalls down from where we were. Me, my girlfriend and Noel were standing there and I notice a bit of blood around the neck of his horse. Very tiny amount, like a small cut. I pointed it out to Noel and he quickly wiped the horse and held his finger over it as the vet came around. Nothing occurred but I remember feeling it was odd and his behavior was strange. The horse won later that afternoon. Not saying they have any connection but just that I remember it.

[jdhanover]

One story I do remember quite vividly. There was a turf race one day and he had the #9 (outside runner) in the race (can't recall his name at the moment). Anyway, this runner was 20-1 morning line. We were on the backside that morning and went by the stall of this horse. A vet was going around inspecting the horses. She was a couple of stalls down from where we were. Me, my girlfriend and Noel were standing there and I notice a bit of blood around the neck of his horse. Very tiny amount, like a small cut. I pointed it out to Noel and he quickly wiped the horse and held his finger over it as the vet came around. Nothing occurred but I remember feeling it was odd and his behavior was strange. The horse won later that afternoon. Not saying they have any connection but just that I remember it.

Hate to say it - but this is VERY suspicious, no? Maybe some other trainer(s) on here could explain this action?

[Striker]

It is very odd that he sells most or all of his farm in FL, is not appartently standing any horses any longer, and brings this one back. He was a very good trainer for a long time, wish we would see more of him as he usually sent his horses to the gate with good intentions. I know in IL he was suspended a lot for medication issues, fighting several in court. He owned horses that he didn't train for a while at Mountaineer, and ran some at Canterbury as well. Would see him very rarely start a horse at Calder, but that was several years ago as well. Had Tour Irelandd in my stable mail as was shocked to see this one entered, thought first it was a repeat name. This horse was very talented, but appeared to be out of his mind, was always all over the place while running very fast. If he really isn't gelded maybe this horse is ready to compete again, wouldn't seem a bad gamble to claim him, if he is even sort of right I would suspect if he isn't claimed on Wednesday he gets protected if he runs again. Have to hope Hickey isn't trying to make a quick buck off the claim, would hate to see him needing that kind of money after winning a lot off races as owner trainer in his life. Hope P Noel has a second life training, it would be great to see him win a few more races.
You don't think it is a bad gamble to claim this horse for $12.5k off a 3 year layoff? The horse was obviously working in 2010, I would assume some more problems arose right around that time. I would be shocked if this horse gets claimed at all, but if Ness dipped in, I guess I could understand how Mr. Fixit could think he would work some of his magic on this one. Just my opinion but it would make more sense to me if this horse was entered in Race 9 on Wednesday given that seems to be the only surface this horse has raced on.

[thaskalos]

Hate to say it - but this is VERY suspicious, no? Maybe some other trainer(s) on here could explain this action?

Could it be that that's how "hickeys" got their name? :)

[affirmedny]

Here is some info on his feud with Duchossois:

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/national-news/2000/april/21/hickey-arlington-resume-war-of-words.aspx

[jdhanover]

Could it be that that's how "hickeys" got their name? :)

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[seattlemorn]

I think it is a terrible risk to claim this horse, but very odd things happen in horse racing every day. Most often a horse like this wouldn't even get a second look for most trainers looking to make a claim, but this horse had a lot more talent than a $12,500 claimer, and anyone who knows the trainers history of making average horses good may want to buy low. Not the kind of race that would have someone doing a lot of pre race info gathering, so it is just an interesting story in a sport that needs something interesting that doesn't include races with 1 horse completing the race or half the field not leaving the gate in a fair fashion. If the horse wins buy many lenghts in a good time it would certainly cause me to keep paying attention, and wondering if a guy with an odd history is returning to a profession he was skilled at.

[Striker]

I think it is a terrible risk to claim this horse, but very odd things happen in horse racing every day. Most often a horse like this wouldn't even get a second look for most trainers looking to make a claim, but this horse had a lot more talent than a $12,500 claimer, and anyone who knows the trainers history of making average horses good may want to buy low. Not the kind of race that would have someone doing a lot of pre race info gathering, so it is just an interesting story in a sport that needs something interesting that doesn't include races with 1 horse completing the race or half the field not leaving the gate in a fair fashion. If the horse wins buy many lenghts in a good time it would certainly cause me to keep paying attention, and wondering if a guy with an odd history is returning to a profession he was skilled at.
Okay good cause it sounded like you thought it was worth the risk to claim this horse, at least to me. I agree this horse HAD a lot more talent than a 12.5k claimer, and that is why I would think the horse would show up at a higher level, and also on the turf if the horse HAD anywhere close to the ability he had when he went to the shelf 3 years ago.

[Track Phantom]

Jamie Ness would have this runner in graded stakes company within 3 starts

[tbwinner]

The horse finished last, "raced very wide and was outdistanced". No claim. Chart does not have actual beaten lengths but was 41 lengths behind at stretch.

[Track Phantom]

The horse finished last, "raced very wide and was outdistanced". No claim. Chart does not have actual beaten lengths but was 41 lengths behind at stretch.

How bizarre....

[Striker]

The horse finished last, "raced very wide and was outdistanced". No claim. Chart does not have actual beaten lengths but was 41 lengths behind at stretch.
Wasn't tough to expect an effort like that. What were the final odds? I saw 7-1 when I glanced a few minutes before post.

[tbwinner]

11-1

[Valuist]

Jamie Ness would have this runner in graded stakes company within 3 starts

Hickey was one of the original super trainers. He had one season at Arlington near 50%. And most of that was accomplished in turf races with 10-12 runners.

There were some issues with post race positives with him. I can't remember all the specifics but I thought a drug called Epogen was involved. I had always thought that was the reason he was banished.

[wisconsin]

He had a lot of sucess with his That's A Nice horses and Bucksplasher horses 1st on the turf. But he was very good at Sportsman's spring meet as well.

[BIG49010]

Hickey was one of the original super trainers. He had one season at Arlington near 50%. And most of that was accomplished in turf races with 10-12 runners.

There were some issues with post race positives with him. I can't remember all the specifics but I thought a drug called Epogen was involved. I had always thought that was the reason he was banished.

I think he also had some issues with Clenbuterol positives. Along with the knife pulling deal. I know one year he was ruled off at Arlington, and trained his horses at Hawthorne, and shipped in. This goes back a few years, but Hillary Pridam and Mike Dini were responsible for most of his training. Mike is still around, I don't know what happened to Hillary.

[tbwinner]

I think he also had some issues with Clenbuterol positives. Along with the knife pulling deal. I know one year he was ruled off at Arlington, and trained his horses at Hawthorne, and shipped in. This goes back a few years, but Hillary Pridam and Mike Dini were responsible for most of his training. Mike is still around, I don't know what happened to Hillary.


Pridham works for Mike Stidham now.

[illinoisbred]

He had a lot of sucess with his That's A Nice horses and Bucksplasher horses 1st on the turf. But he was very good at Sportsman's spring meet as well.
Yes,and if my memory is correct,his barn was mostly comprised of NJ breds during his 1st and 2nd year here. Also, hasn't his farm down near Tampa Bay Downs been for sale for a good number of years now?

[nijinski]

Albuterol detections and the surrounding stories that went along with the six
horse positive findings started his troubles.

[wisconsin]

Yes,and if my memory is correct,his barn was mostly comprised of NJ breds during his 1st and 2nd year here. Also, hasn't his farm down near Tampa Bay Downs been for sale for a good number of years now?


Not sure where the farm is. He trained at Penn National last I ever saw a few years back. The guy has to be what, 85 or 90? I thought I read somewhere that he didn't even train horses until he was in his 50's.

[Valuist]

Yes,and if my memory is correct,his barn was mostly comprised of NJ breds during his 1st and 2nd year here. Also, hasn't his farm down near Tampa Bay Downs been for sale for a good number of years now?

I don't remember the NJ breds unless Thats a Nice or Bucksplasher were standing stud there. I only remember them as Illinois stallions. I started betting Arlington in 1983 so it could've happened before then.

[CryingForTheHorses]

Not sure where the farm is. He trained at Penn National last I ever saw a few years back. The guy has to be what, 85 or 90? I thought I read somewhere that he didn't even train horses until he was in his 50's.


I broke and rode babies for Noel on Irish Acres farm in Ocala Florida located at state rd 326 and US 441.Noel is a very kind man always soft spoken and walked around his farm as quiet as a cat.I was looking after a babie one day in a stall and was surprised to see Noel standing there watching me and praising me for my quiet demenor with that horse.Noel had a 1/2 mile track on his farm plus many paddocks for us to ride them.He also gave me a trailer to live in and paid me a good salary..A few years later I would gallop horses for him at Arlington Park in the days before the grandstand burnt down.Noel always had a nice word for someone who deserved it.Didnt matter who you were if he wanted to speak his mind.I hope he does well God Bless Him

[NatteringNeighBob]

Just noticed that Tour Ireland, the horse mentioned in the first post of this thread, won the 6th race at Tampa today at 30-1.


Tour Ireland $62.60 $25.40 $15.20

Equibase Chart: http://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/TAM050612USA6.pdf

[Striker]

Horse won quite easily also. Outstanding job by Hickey training the horse. :rolleyes: