WEDNESDAY, 16 MAY, 2018 LEE A RISING STAR IN IRISH RIDING RANKS LYONS, QATAR RACING By Daithi Harvey PART WAYS Natural talent, determination, hard graft and a slice or two of good luck along the way are some of the key components to success in the saddle and jockey Billy Lee is now reaping the rewards of the commitment and effort he has put in over the last decade. The 31-year-old is not short of talent either and those talents have been put to good use by shrewd trainers like Tommy and Fozzy Stack, and in more recent seasons by the upwardly mobile Willie McCreery, whose rising tide has mirrored Lee's progress over the past three years. The pair combined to land a first Group 1 win for both when Fiesolana (Ire) (Aussie Rules) landed the G1 Coolmore Stud Matron S. at Leopardstown in 2014, the partnership having been forged the previous year when someone else's misfortune became Billy Lee's slice of luck. Cont. p2 Ger Lyons and connections celebrate Lightening Quick=s Athasi S. win | Racing Post photo IN TDN AMERICA TODAY TUESDAY’S PREAKNESS REPORT: MAGIC AT PIMLICO Ger Lyons, who trained Qatar Racing=s Lightening Quick (GB) GI Kentucky Derby runner-up Good Magic (Curlin) shipped to (Frankel {GB}) to win the G3 Athasi S. earlier this month, has Pimlico Monday and had his first gallop over the local main track parted ways with that outfit. Lyons also trained Lightening on Tuesday in advance of Saturday’s GI Preakness S. Click or tap Quick=s dam, Lightening Pearl (Ire) (Marju {Ire}), to win the 2011 here to go straight to TDN America. G1 Cheveley Park S. for Pearl Bloodstock, another entity of Sheikh Fahad, and he also trained Qatar Racing=s first-ever winner. Lyons posted on his blog on Tuesday, AIt is with regret that I have to announce I will no longer be training for Qatar Racing as from yesterday. We have had some good times and I was delighted to have trained Sheikh Fahad his first ever winner with Wade Giles. Another fantastic day was when we won the Cheveley Park S. with Lightening Pearl, giving us both our first ever Group 1 win. Time waits for no man and last Monday was another great thrill when we won the G3 Athasi S. at Naas with Lightening Pearl's daughter Lightening Quick, making her a very valuable broodmare prospect. I wish her, Sheikh Fahad and all the Qatar Racing team all the very best in the future and thank them for their fantastic support over the years.@ David Redvers, Qatar Racing manager, said in a statement, AIt is with some regret that due to a difference of opinion Qatar Racing and Ger Lyons have decided by mutual consent to part.@ Cont. p2 TDN EUROPE/INTERNATIONAL • PAGE 2 OF 10 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • 16 MAY, 2018 Lyons, Qatar Racing Part Ways Cont. from p1 and Lee's weight stabilised, allowing him to refocus his efforts AGer is a personal friend and his operation were responsible on the level. "I was going okay on the flat and I thought it was for many great days, including Lightening Pearl winning both his too risky trying to establish myself over jumps. I figured if I got and our first Group 1 in the 2011 Cheveley Park S. We wish him an injury riding over jumps I could be forgotten back on the flat and his top-class team at Glenburnie much success in the future very easily so I stuck with it, thankfully." and thank them for the many successes we enjoyed together.@ In 2012, Lee recorded his highest number of winners up until then and it seemed to signal an elevation of his status towards the upper echelons in Ireland. He has maintained that progress to date, no doubt fueled by his association with a strong stable Lee A Rising Star In Irish Riding Ranks Cont. from p1 like McCreery's while also maintaining links with a broad "I'd just had a couple of rides for Willie at the time but spectrum of other trainers. unfortunately for Colm O'Donoghue, who had won on Fiesolana "I still do a morning a week with the Stacks, the same with previously, he got a fall in Limerick and broke his collar bone and Paddy Twomey and if I have time on a Saturday I pop into couldn't ride her in the Brownstown S. at Fairyhouse," Lee said. Richard O'Brien who is based down the road from me in "Luckily I got the call up to ride her and she won and I ended up Ballingarry. I'm doing up my family home there and will be riding her every time after bar once in France.@ moving back full time soon so it's important to keep the AShe was a special mare to me as she was my first Group 1 neighbours happy. Richard is also making great progress, he has winner and I got to ride her in a Breeders' Cup as well. She was a good routine and it's working for him. I wouldn't be surprised so genuine and you could've set your clock by her." if he has twice the number of horses this time next year," he Fiesolana was owned for her Group 1 win by the Niarchos said. family's Flaxman Stables and No doubt O'Brien is delighted the family have since increased to have a neighbor like Billy Lee their interests in McCreery's after the jockey steered his string, which has also benefited Bianca Minola (Fr) Lee through his association (Shakespearean {Ire}) home a with horses like Liquid Amber winner twice in four days (Kitten's Joy). The filly won the earlier this month while also G3 Flame Of Tara S. at The riding a winner for him at the Curragh last year and despite a opening meeting at The slightly tame effort in the G1 Curragh. QIPCO 1000 Guineas she If 2014 was a milestone for remains a filly of serious Lee with a first top level win, 2016 potential, particularly as she was also memorable from a steps up in trip. winners' tally point of view and That Guineas ride was Lee's it will serve as the benchmark first in an English Classic though for future seasons. "In 2016 I he had gained experience of Billy Lee and Maths Prize after a win at broke the 50-winner mark for the Rowley Mile before when The Curragh on May 11 | Racing Post photo the first time and then I did the winning the G2 Dubai Challenge S. there aboard Fiesolana. same last year so obviously the aim is to keep trying to increase The jockey served his apprenticeship with Tommy Stack, for the win tally and get more success in the bigger races," he said. whom he rode his first winner in 2002. "Willie has trained 29 winners each of the last two seasons so The following 10 years proved satisfactory and while Lee was getting him to break the 30 mark is also an objective for this averaging around 20 winners a year and winning his share of year. We've both made a good start so fingers crossed it can premier handicaps, he was rarely a fixture in the better races continue." and, for even a brief period in 2005, when his weight wasn't Every-day winners are Lee's bread and butter and, as with playing ball, he toyed with the notion of riding over jumps. That most jockeys, these winners are the reward and necessary stint earned him a win aboard the Stack-trained Wanango (Ger) motivation that spurs him on to want more and to justify the (Acatenango {Ger}) in a listed hurdle at Haydock in 2005. physical sacrifices made in order to 'live the dream' but However, a previously feared growth spurt never materialised ultimately earn a living. Cont. p3 TDN EUROPE/INTERNATIONAL • PAGE 3 OF 10 • THETDN.COM WEDNESDAY • 16 MAY, 2018 Lee A Rising Star In Irish Riding Ranks Cont. It is now the lure of the big horse that is occupying Lee's mind while he continues, more or less, to dispute the lead at the top of the jockeys' table, admittedly at this very early stage of the season. "Being champion is not a major objective of mine, however riding another Group 1 winner and getting the rides in the Classics, that is definitely the aim. But you can't beat a winner. I'm happy with how I'm riding and we have a lovely bunch of Vice President, International Operations horses in Willie's. Realistically I think you could only start Gary King thinking about the championship around August time if you Twitter: @garykingTDN happen to be near the top of the table." [email protected] + 1.732.320.0975 International Editor Kelsey Riley Twitter: @kelseynrileyTDN [email protected] European Editor Emma Berry Twitter: @collingsberry [email protected] Associate International Editor Heather Anderson Twitter: @HLAndersonTDN Marketing Manager Alayna Cullen Twitter: @AlaynaCullen Billy Lee and stakes-winning filly Bloomfield | Racing Post [email protected] Contributing Editor Being associated with a trainer like McCreery is likely to see Alan Carasso Lee fulfil his ambition to be mixing it with the best and there are Twitter: @EquinealTDN several horses in the yard that look capable of group success. One of the highlights of the season so far has been the smooth Cafe Racing success of Mary Tudor (Ire) (Dawn Approach {Ire}) in the Listed Sean Cronin Salsabil S.