Luidam passes away aged 24

Luidam passes away aged 24
THE prolific show jumping sire and Nations Cup horse Luidam has passed away at the age of 24.

The son of Guidam was ridden to international prominence by Ireland’s Billy Twomey. The combination were part of the winning Irish Aga Khan team at the Dublin Horse Show in 2004, jumping the all-important double clear to secure the Irish victory.

They were also part of the Irish team that won the five-star Nations Cup at Aachen and St Gallen. Twomey and Luidam won the La Baule Grand Prix in 2003 and were runners-up in the Dublin Grand Prix at the famous RDS arena.

Other individual results include a fifth place at the 2003 European Championships and sixth at the 2006 World Equestrian Games. The combination were shortlisted for the 2004 Olympic Games.

The 24-year-old stallion passed away at Emma-Rose Conroy’s stud in Co Offaly on Wednesday due to old age. “He had been turned out for the morning and he went to roll and never got back up,” Alan Beaumont, who handles Twomey’s PR, confirmed to The Irish Field today.

“He had a really happy ending, old age just got to him in the end,” he added.

Luidam’s sire, Guidam, was from one of the strongest stallion lines in jumping horses, the Ibrahim - Alme - Jalisco B - Quidam de Revel line. His dam, Eljenohve, was a ‘Pref Elite’ KWPN mare.

He has sired multiple 1.60m performers, with the most high profile including Blue Angel (Luidam x Ascendant) who was ridden to numerous five-star victories by American world number one Kent Farrington; Luikka (Luidam x Renville); and the Irish Sport Horse Ard Ginger Pop (Luidam x Cruising) who was sold for €95,000 at the inaugural Goresbridge Go For Gold sale in 2014.

The chesnut mare went on to win a silver medal in the five-year-old division at the 2014 World Breeding Championships for Young Horses in Lanaken under Sweden’s Angelica Augustsson Zanotelli.

Other promising young horses by the sire include the Galway Bay Stud-bred Luibanta BH, who placed fourth in the Saugerties $1 million five-star Grand Prix with Britain’s Amanda Derbyshire in September; Beech Hill Lucia (Jenny Rankin); and Loughnavatta Indigo, recently sold to Twin Oaks Stables in America where the gelding is now ridden by Ireland’s Jonathan Corrigan.

Owned by Twomey’s loyal supporters Ed and Sue Davies, Luidam stood in Ireland at Conroy’s Euro Stallions in Durrow, Co Offaly, for the past three years.

"Luidam (Tiger to us) was a very special boy and we had many happy memories that he was key to. My fondest memory is the day at Dublin in 2004 when he jumped double clear in the Nations Cup and was part of the team who retained the Aga Kahn trophy. His progeny will prove how good a horse he was. He will be sadly missed," Sue Davies said today.

Billy Twomey added: "Luidam was a horse of a lifetime for me. He made many of my dreams come true. I am eternally grateful to Luidam, Sue and Eddie for the chance to ride such a dream horse. I am forever indebted to all three who have played such a major part in my career to date."