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You are > Home > Killarney saddled up for successful meeting
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24 July 2003
Killarney saddled up for successful meeting
With Finbarr Slattery
WHAT a fascinating eight days of sport those of us presently on deck were privileged to live through.
For us folk in Kerry it was extra special with four days of great racing in Killarney thrown in and of course Kerry’s favourite son in the racing game, Jim Culloty, riding his first winner in his native county.
That was something to relish and all those present at Killarney Races on July 15 witnessed something extra special in earnest. We also saw Kerry emerge as Munster Football Champions.
Fascinate
The impending drama that was going to fascinate us all got underway at the Curragh on Sunday, July 13, when that doyen of racehorse trainers the world over, 84-year-old Paddy Mullins, saddled his first classic winner, Vintage Tipple, in the Darley Irish Oaks. What a fairy tale unfolded with this filly’s victory – bought for €16,000 at Goffs February sale last year, suffering a hairline fracture to her cannon bone, taking on the best of her vintage - the first two home in the Vodafone Oaks, the Ribbledale Stakes and the Pretty Polly Stakes - and ridden by the flamboyant Frankie Dettori. Her victory was as sweet as they come. Frankie did his usual dismount from a classic winner to the cheers of those present but the owner, the well-known Cork businessman, Patrick J.
O’Donovan of Egan Jewellers fame, added his own twist by lifting Frankie and taking him to the rostrum to receive his prize. It was nice to hear a verse of the "Banks of My Own Lovely Lee" being sung by friends of the owner after the race. Patrick O’Donovan has been a lucky owner all his life – all his purchases either won well or bred well.
Already Vintage Tipple has had a Kerry connection in that she won a twoyear- old race at Tralee last fall. Paddy Mullins let it be known there and then that he had a superstar on hand better than Harry Harriet, whom he trained to win the Champion stakes back in 1973 In the Tralee race Vintage Tipple was backed from 14/1 to 11/2 and won, beating among others – Deimitrova who finished fourth.
What a fascinating and unique contest the Tralee race has turned out to be with two future Oaks winners in contention. In the very same month that Vintage Tipple wins the Darley Irish Oaks at the Curragh, Deimitrova triumphs in the American counterpart (winning over half a million dollars in the process) in faraway California.
Pride
Tralee Races, whose future seems to be in doubt presently, has the distinction of having the most famous racehorses to compete in Kerry running there – Vintage Crop, Dawn Run and now Vintage Tipple. What a shame it would be if racing ends in Ballybeggan Park – filthy lucre winning out over sportsmanship and pride in your home town achievements – sad if that happens to be the case. The comments on Paddy Mullins’ feat by his fellow trainers made interesting reading in the Racing Post (July 15). Here are the four listed.
Jim Bolger: "It was probably the most popular victory that has ever been seen at The Curragh, and it couldn’t have happened to two nicer people than Paddy and Maureen. It also showed how elusive Classic victory can be. Paddy has been training for over 50 years and it just happened to click for him this year."
John Oxx: "When I think of Paddy I always think of Old Man River – ‘he don’t say nothing but he must know something’. He is a quiet man but there is no one cleverer than him. He is a much admired man and everybody was delighted for him. It was a great achievement to bring the filly back after that setback." Dermot Weld: "I think it was a tremendous achievement, and I am delighted for Paddy and his family."
Noel Meade: "Like Barry Geraghty winning the Grand National, it’s one of the greatest things that ever happened in my time and I’m thrilled for him. To think that they brought the filly back from suffering a stress fracture to winning the Irish Oaks is unbelievable."
And Alastair Down added a nice final touch when he wrote in the Racing Post July 16: "I regard it as one of the sins of omission of my life that I wasn’t on the Curragh to witness the reception the Irish gave a man who, as well as achieving almost all racing has to offer, has co-bred a mad but talented raft of children to keep the flame burning for generations more. It was emotional stuff by all accounts and that is as it should be, because there could no more suitable receptacle for public respect and affection than P Mullins."
Paddy Mullins says that the sky is the limit as far as Vintage Tipple goes. A look at the pedigree confirms this. The sire, Entrepreneur, is a son of Saddler’s Wells, probably the greatest sire of top class winner of all time. Saddlers Wells’ sire, Northern Dancer, has been another winner’s sire – he also featured on the dam’s side. That wonderful filly Pretty Polly, already the ancestress of two Derby winners St Paddy and Psiduim, is also an ancestress of Vintage Tipple.
Now, for a look at the targets being set for the new star of the racing scene. Her next outing will be in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on September 6 followed by a tilt at the Arc on the first Sunday in October. Paddy Power Bookmakers is presently laying odds of 25/1 against Vintage Tipple winning the Arc.
It will certainly be interesting to see what the future holds for the new racing star. No matter what, her Oaks victory at The Curragh was probably the most popular ever in Ireland and it was very fitting indeed that Paddy Mullins should be at the receiving end.
On a much lesser scale than a classic victory was Jim Culloty’s fine achievement in winning at his home town, Killarney. He won the Sunnybank Hotel Handicap Steeplechase run over two miles and one furlong (3,400 metres) on Tuesday, July 15.
There were 13 runners for this race. Jumping the second last Jim Culloty’s mount, Theseus, came into the reckoning and went on to win by four and a half lengths. Trainer, Pat Hughes didn’t expect his horse to win. Jim’s father Donal, had a small wager and the delighted father was in the parade ring to greet his son’s victory.
Victory
Now Jim Culloty has added a victory at Killarney races to his illustrious CV which includes triumphs in the English and Irish Grand Nationals, the Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the Galway Hurdle, four prestigious races and you can rest assured that very few jockeys (if any) have achieved victory in all four races.
Racing in Killarney got off to a nice start on Monday evening. There were 85 runners for the seven races. The going was described good to firm (good in places). The going was rather on the hard side which certainly wouldn’t entice certain owners to run their horse.
The first man I met on arrival was Norman Williamson who had just walked the track and he gave it the height of praise - a good coat of grass and no jar - that was good news for a start.
There is only one twoyear- old race run in Killarney annually. This year’s race was won by the Basil Brindley-owned Bless Your Pink Son. Trained by Peter Casey at Stramullen, Co Meath and ridden by JA Heffernan, he beat the O ’ B r i e n / M a g n i e r - Tabor/Mick Kinnane combination and there was great jubilation in the winning camp.
Basil’s daughter was on hand to meet the winner – a horse whose progress we will be watching with interest.
Along comes Tuesday which happened to be Pat Smullen’s day at the races – he rode three winners. Wednesday we had the rain which dampened proceedings quite a bit and changed the going from good to soft to heavy. The description of the going at racecourses has been a contentious matter for quite some time. Tony O’Hehir’s column in Racing Post of July 17 was headed "Turf Club Must Call a Halt to Comedy of Watery Errors". Killarney’s mistake was its failure to inform the public that watering had taken place. As a result of the change in the going there were approximately 40 non-runners, still there was great life in the place.
As regards the going – should there be watering – while running the show here in Killarney I made one glaring error I failed to water the track for one July meeting. The Met Office forecast rain and it rained everywhere around Killarney except on the race track. The result was rock hard ground. It is very important to water to keep the grass growing if nothing else. One year at York they watered and the rain fell in buckets the day before racing making the ground very soft.
Trainer Michael Stoute blamed the clerk of the course for watering. I wrote to the editor of The Sporting Life exonerating its clerk of the course for what happened. The Sporting Life headed my letter "Stoute Blames Wrong Man’.
It was the Man Above that was at fault!" The Kingdom threw a nice party on Wednesday entertaining their newsagents and holding a draw for a motorcar among ten contestants who had made it to the final draw. It was a very pleasant occasion.
Killarney had a lovely day’s racing on Thursday. There was a touch of the fairytale about one winner. Thomas Walker trains a few horses at Dually, Newcastlewest, Co Limerick. He has bought horses at ordinary horse fairs and won races with them. He ran his 11-year-old Ballygowan Beauty in a twomile six-furlong handicap hurdle on Tuesday.
The horse was hampered and brought down in thatrace. The horse was saddled again for the Dawn Milk Run Handicap on Thursday – ridden by Jockey Billy Lee the horse romped home at 20/1. I backed the horse on the tote and for my €2 each way I collected €56.80 so I had cause to celebrate with Tommy Walker. Also, on Thursday a horse named Doc Morrissey (named after an old friend Dr Paddy Morrissey who practices in London) won at 9/1.
There were great parties and much jubilation at the races on Thursday afternoon and a good time was had by one and all. John Looney, Killarney Racecourse’s new manager came through his first festival meeting with flying colours. Heartiest congratulations to John and his staff for a job well done.
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