Keagan Latham

Principal Trainer: Ger Lyons

Keegan LathamNotable Wins:

  • Brownstown Stakes (Berg Bahn 2010)
  • Rochestown Stakes (Clondinnery 2010)
  • Cork Stakes (Rain Delayed 2010)
  • Mercury Stakes (Arganil 2009)
  • Sirenia Stakes at Kempton (Love Lockdown 2009)
  • Golden Fleece Stakes (Perfect Symmetry 2009)
  • Rochestown Stakes (Love Lockdown 2009)
  • Amethyst Stakes (Summit Surge 2009)
  • BAR ONE Racing Handicap (Dohasa 2008)
  • Curragh Stakes (Pasar Silbano 2008)
  • Ballycorus Stakes (Summit Surge 2008)
  • HH The Presidents Cup (Dynamite 2008)

Before Ireland

South African Keagan Latham first came to public attention when still a teenager in his home country. A precocious rider, he rode over 100 winners before creating an even bigger impression in the United Arab Emirates, riding Dynamite to win the Group 1 HH The Presidents Cup at Abu Dhabi in February 2008. It was while riding in Dubai that Latham caught the attention of Johnny Murtagh and it was Murtagh that put him in touch with the up-and-coming Irish trainer Ger Lyons. Before long, the then 20-year-old had been snapped up by Lyons to come work for him full time in Ireland and thus began what has proven to be an excellent partnership.

A Successful First Season In Ireland

The pair teamed up for the first time at Dundalk on April 17th 2008 and while the best finishing position of their three representatives could manage was second, it would only be a matter of time before they went one better. Indeed, a little over a fortnight later the pair combined to complete a memorable double back at the Co. Louth track with Slam Dunk winning a maiden by a short-head and Vincenzio Galilei winning a conditions race by a much easier 4½ lengths. It wasn’t long before Latham began to generate quite a bit in interest amongst outside trainers and he was soon being kept very busy at Irish racecourses. With the winner’s continuing to flow, Lyons and Latham combined for their first success at Group level with Summit Surge grinding out a 1½ lengths win in the Group 3 Ballycorus Stakes at Leopardstown in June. The strong run of form continued through June and into July with Nice Style and Turk racking up multiple wins for the partnership and it was at the end of that month that the pair again celebrated pattern race success, this time with Pasar Silbano winning the Listed Curragh Stakes at the Co. Kildare track. The following month it was the turn of Dohasa to give the pairing a notable win in the valuable BAR ONE Racing Handicap at Dundalk. The winners continued to flow for the remainder of the season and while Latham failed to ride another big-race winner, he finished his first Irish campaign with a more than satisfactory 23 winners.

Second Season Breakout

With him now being acknowledged as a very talented rider by the majority of people on the Irish racing circuit, Latham set out in the 2009 campaign with ambitions of securing a much-improved tally of winners and in increase in big-race winners. He achieved both those goals in style. The star performer of Latham’s season was undoubtedly the Lyons-trained Love Lockdown. A two-year-old son of Verglas, he proved admirably precocious and professional under Latham, winning a maiden at Leopardstown, a conditions event at Navan and the Listed Rochestown Stakes at Cork in little over a month in the first half of the season. While he met with defeat on his next two starts, he returned to winning ways in the Group 3 Sirenia Stakes at Kempton in early-September, beating off some well-regarded sorts in the process. It was Summit Surge that gave Lyons and Latham their first Group success together in 2008 and that horse provided them with further Group 3 glory in May 2009 when winning the Amethyst Stakes at Leopardstown in authoritative fashion. Another two-year-old that proved a lucrative partner for Latham was the Lyons-trained Perfect Symmetry, who won the Listed Golden Fleece Stakes at Fairyhouse. Latham capped an excellent season by winning the Listed Mercury Stakes at Dundalk on the Kevin Ryan-trained Arganil. All told, he rode a total of 44 winners that season, which was an excellent haul for a rider having just his second campaign in the country.

Consolidation

While hopes were high that Latham would continue his progression in 2010, his performance was somewhat held back by the fact that Ger Lyons endured a difficult season, with his horses not firing in the manner that one had come to expect from them. Despite this, the pairing combined for three stakes successes, with Rain Delayed winning the Listed Cork Stakes, Clondinnery winning the Listed Rochestown Stakes (both at Cork) and Berg Bahn winning the Group 3 Brownstown Stakes at Fairyhouse. In the circumstances, Latham’s final tally of 28 winners was highly creditable.

While Latham enjoyed a slightly difficult campaign in 2010, Ger Lyons is adamant that his string will be right back to their best in 2011 and Latham can be expected to restart his progression during that term.

Info supplied by Horse Racing Ireland - Updated January 2011