Noel Hickey, trainer of Buck's Boy, dead at 92

Noel Hickey, who dominated as an owner-trainer at Arlington Park in the early- to mid-1990s before winning the 1998 Breeders’ Cup Turf with Buck’s Boy, died Wednesday in an Ocala, Fla., nursing home. He was 92.

Hilary Pridham, his former longtime assistant, said family members informed her that Hickey “died in his sleep, very peacefully.” She said Hickey had lived in the nursing home for about a year after suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, then COVID in the last few weeks.

Hickey was a track star in his native Ireland in his youth while also developing a great affinity for horses. He moved to Canada in his mid-20s while working in private business before eventually going full-bore in the Thoroughbred business. He knew his greatest success by far at Arlington, where he specialized with high-end, long-distance turf runners such as his homebred Buck’s Boy, who was ridden by Shane Sellers in winning the 1 1/2-mile Turf at Churchill Downs.

Hickey ran his last horse as a trainer in 2013, although in his later years he continued as an owner and breeder on a lesser basis while residing on his Irish Acres Farm in Ocala.

Hickey is survived by his wife, Margaret (Bobbie), and one daughter and one son. He was predeceased by one other son.