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Presented after Prince Regent's victory in the 1942 Irish Grand National, an engraved Rolex offered at Adam's recalls the beginning of one of Irish racing's most remarkable careers.
On the reverse of a gold Rolex Prince offered in Adam's forthcoming Fine Watches auction, a short inscription records a remarkable moment in Irish racing history: '1942 Irish Grand National – Prince Regent – To Tom Dreaper – From J.V. Rank'.
The watch was a presentation from racehorse owner James Voase Rank to his trainer, Tom Dreaper, following Prince Regent's victory at Fairyhouse on Easter Monday, 6 April 1942. It marked the first of what would become a record ten Irish Grand National wins for Dreaper.
Prince Regent was seven years old when he lined up at Fairyhouse, carrying the formidable top weight of 12 stone 7 pounds. The 5/2 favourite in a field of ten, he faced exceptionally heavy ground and a determined challenge from Golden Jack. Ridden by Tim Hyde, Prince Regent asserted his superiority over the fences before holding off his rival in the closing stages, securing a celebrated victory under testing conditions.
The horse's achievements did not end there. Despite restrictions on racing in Britain during the Second World War, Prince Regent became one of Ireland's outstanding steeplechasers. In March 1946, by then eleven years old, he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, again ridden by Hyde, giving Dreaper his first victory in the race.
Rank, the man whose name appears on the watch, was a prominent British flour-milling industrialist and the elder brother of J. Arthur Rank, founder of the British film empire. He had entrusted his horses to Dreaper in 1938, bringing Prince Regent to the trainer's Greenogue stables in County Dublin and establishing a partnership that would deliver some of Dreaper's earliest major successes.
Dreaper would go on to become one of the greatest trainers in National Hunt history. His ten Irish Grand National victories included seven in succession between 1960 and 1966, while his five Cheltenham Gold Cup wins remain a record. Most famously, he trained Arkle, winner of three consecutive Gold Cups, as well as Flyingbolt, another of the highest-rated steeplechasers of all time.
That history continues through the Dreaper family. In 2024, Tom Dreaper's grandson, also named Tom, took over the training licence at Greenogue from his father Jim, carrying the family name into a third generation.
More than eighty years after Prince Regent's victory, the engraving on this Rolex preserves a personal exchange between owner and trainer at the very beginning of an extraordinary career. It is a rare meeting of watchmaking and Irish sporting history, made all the more compelling by the names it records.
Adam's Fine Watches auction takes place on Wednesday, 2 December 2026.
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John ffrench was an instrumental figure in the design industry in Ireland and a distinguished pioneer of Irish studio pottery.
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"I should declare my hand. I have a weakness for pictures that punch above their physical weight, and for artists who have been quietly underrated for too long. This pair is both. They are intimate enough to live with at close quarters and serious enough to repay any amount of looking. If the market has lately shown signs of catching up with eighteenth-century Irish painting and I think it has, these two small panels feel, to me, like exactly the sort of thing that will look obvious in twenty years’ time."
Adam’s is honoured to present works from the collection of Lord Rossmore in the upcoming Country House Collections auction at Howth Castle on 28th April. It is seldom that an influential Irish family collection that has survived through the generations comes to the open market.
Works Sold at Adam’s Now in the Irish National Collection
A great opportunity to purchase both established and lesser-known artist’s work at an accessible price point, the Online Picture Auction is the first of many sales to be hosted at Adam’s in 2026. It is perfect for those looking to start a collection and the discerning collector alike.
Through this article, let our expert Adam Pearson guiding you to the (re)discovery of the once established Irish painter Richard O’Neill.
Buying at Auction and the Role of Antiques in a Modern Home
James Adam & Sons Ltd, Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers, 26 St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2,
D02 X665, Ireland
