Irish great Lizzy Maher passes away
Greyhound racing mourns the loss of legendary Irish breeder Lizzy Maher.
Irish great Lizzy Maher passes away
Irish greyhound racing suffered a huge loss over the weekend with the passing of Lizzy Maher.
The legendary figure enjoyed great success as a breeder and will forever be known for her ‘Minnies’ prefix, which still has a big impact on the sport to this day.
Thanks to her 1994 Phantom Flash-Minnies Nikita litter, Maher famously bred the first and third home in the 1996 Irish Derby final courtesy of Tina Marina and Spiral Nikita, respectively.
Those littermates went on to have fantastic careers after they stopped racing, with Tina Marina throwing dual Irish Oaks winner Marinas Tina amongst a host of other stars.
Spiral Nikita had a massive impact at stud, siring the winner of the 2002 Irish Derby with Bypass Byway and multiple Classic winner Late Late Show, who just missed out to Cool Performance in one of the most thrilling Irish Derby deciders ever in 2001.
Spiral Nikita also threw Cooly Pantera, who landed the Oaks at Wimbledon in 2003, the 2004 Irish St Leger hero Never Give Up and 2006 Irish Oaks winner Shelbourne Becky.
Maher leaves behind her daughter Ann, sons Martin and Dermot, and grandchildren Ciarán, Diarmuid, Enya, Fionn, Aoibheann and Sean. The funeral will take place St James Church, Two Mile Borris on Wednesday 4th June.
