Damien Lacey

Damien Lacey

Article by Alan Trout

Gerard Damien Lacey – he was known by his second Christian name – rode ten winners under National Hunt rules in the1960s. Based for much of his riding career with permit holder Alan Brush, he rode his first winner in the rarified heights of Cheltenham on October 29, 1966, when the four-year-old Harlech won the E.C. Burton Hurdle, beating Oberon, the mount of Steve ‘Buster’ Rooney, by three lengths.

With just three placed efforts from nine subsequent starts on Harlech, Damien had to wait until Fakenham on Whit Monday, May 29, 1967, for his second success, when Taboon Bay won the Barsham Novices’ Hurdle. Thereafter, he had a few rides each season with the occasional winner, including three on hurdler White Hunter. 

His last came on May 27, 1970, when riding seven-year-old Chigwell Charmer, trained by Toby Balding, to win the Charles Vicary Memorial Challenge Cup Handicap Hurdle at Newton Abbot, beating Bob Davies on Dicta Royale by five lengths and losing his 7lb claim in the process. Chigwell Charmer was also his final ride when finishing third in a novice riders’ handicap hurdle at Stratford nine days later. He did not renew his licence for the following season. 

Damien Lacey’s wins were, in chronological order:

1. Harlech, Cheltenham, October 29, 1966

2. Taboon Bay, Fakenham, May 29, 1967

3. Arctic Splendour, Fakenham, October 14, 1967

4. White Hunter, Towcester, April 22, 1968

5. White Hunter, Southwell, April 29, 1968

6. White Hunter, Warwick, September 21, 1968

7. Mons Badonicus, Folkestone, September 22, 1969 

8. Chigwell Charmer, Wye, October 27, 1969

9. Sailor’s Collar, Huntingdon, December 26, 1969

10. Chigwell Charmer, Newton Abbot, May 27, 1970