Gold Circle Pty (Ltd)

Today's Racing :

Pat Riley dies

David Thiselton
Accolades poured in for Ashburton trainer Pat Riley at Scottsville yesterday soon after he had died in hospital on Friday night.
Riley died of pluracy, an illness he bore bravely for many years.
Riley originated from Zimbabwe where his brother Tony was a trainer and his late brother Mike, who died earlier this year, was a jockey.
Pat and Mike both worked for Pat O’Neill’s Broadlands Stud in the Cape before arriving in Kwazulu-Natal.
Pat then ran a stud for Henry Kahn in Nottingham Road before becoming assisstant to Mike, who had earlier taken out his trainer’s license.
He later took out his own license.
Pat and Mike joined forces at one stage but ended up as single entities later on again.
Anne Upton, the stalwart KZN trainer of yesteryear, who was his neighbour for some time, spoke highly of Pat.
“He ran an excellent stud operation for Henry Kahn and later trained successfully and had loyal patrons. I remember two of our fillies, my Abernant Star and his Trade Enquiry, often met each other and used to take it in turns to win. I introduced one of my clients, the late Wally Sharratt, to Pat after I retired and he continued to love his racing. Pat’s horses were turned out immaculately and he was a good feeder, who ran a very clean, decent yard. Even after his illness began effecting his well-being his standards never dropped. He was a great animal lover. I remember how he loved cats and his and my cats used to wander into each others yards very happily. He is a great loss to the racing industry.”
Trade Enquiry, the good filly Upton mentioned, is the dam of Grade 1 winners Buy And Sell and Count The Money and SA Oaks winner, Bedloe’s Island. She was named Equus Champion broodmare this year and Upton regards her success as a tribute to Pat’s horsemanship.
Doug Campbell also described Pat as a fine horseman, “not only in racing, but in other disciplines too.”
Buller Benton remembered Pat as a fine trainer and someone “who always had a smile on his face and bore his illness with tremendous bravery.”
James Goodman praised Pat as an outstanding horseman and trainer who did well with unfashionably bred horses throughout his career.
He cited the recent example of the Announce five-year-old gelding, Chigger Yellem, who earned a cheque in virtually every start.
“To be able to win with horses other trainers wouldn’t be able to win with is the mark of a good trainer and that was what Pat could do,” said Goodman.
The day was a particularly sad one for Belinda Impey, who was Pat’s life partner for about five years.
“I will remember him as a fine horseman who had a tremendous eye for a horse,” said Impey.
Jockey Derryl Daniels was apprenticed to Pat and Mike when they were a partnership and remembers them as fine horseman who had some very good horses.
“Pat was a very easy going guy and great to work for,” said Daniels.
Pat, besides his horsemanship, was also known as a down to earth character who loved socializing.
“He was a salt of the earth character, a real sweetie, one of the true nice guys of racing”, said photographer Anita Akal. “I will also remember how much he cared for his brother, Mike, who was a more ‘live for the day’ type of character than Pat.”
Pat’s horses were looked after by Bart Rice and his wife, Pam, during his illness.
Pam said, “He was the closest person to family we had here. We have only known him for a couple of years and he became a wonderful friend. The thing we will remember most about him, besides his kind heart, is his never-ending, entertaining stories that we used to listen to for hours on end and which he loved telling.”
Pat had his last runner yesterday, Travel Light, and it finished second in the eighth race.
Pat leaves his sisters Annie and Caroline and sons Dean, Brett and Lee

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