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OR the past 35 years and more, John Kiely, from his coastal base of Lisfennel, Dungarvan, County Waterford, has been recognised as one of the shrewdest trainers in Ireland, and it’s a rare Galway Festival that doesn’t see him visit the winner’s enclosure. As well as high-class winners in his own yard, over the years he has earned respect for talented young bumpers and novices, many of whom have been sold on to exciting careers in Britain. His own stars of the past include the Galway Hurdle victors Black Queen and Indian Pace and the talented mare Liss A Paoraigh, a multiple Grade One heroine, but it’s Carlingford Lough who is currently proving the flagship horse of the yard, and his win in the Galway Plate has secured Kiely the coveted
TRM Trainer of the Quarter award. The Galway Plate is Carlingford Lough’s third consecutive win at the Galway Festival, having won the Handicap Hurdle in 2011 on only his third start and the Ladbrokes Handicap Hurdle last year. “There is a case for horses for courses and he is definitely one of those horses,” Kiely says. “He seems to enjoy Galway and he always comes up the hill pretty well. He’s been a nice horse since I got him. He’s had some small problems, but nothing serious, and he has delivered in the Galway Plate with the help of his jockey, A P McCoy.” A trainer who normally prefers to avoid the limelight, Kiely is much happier quietly winning races at local meetings, but he recalls 2009 at the Aintree Grand National meeting fondly, when his two runners Candy Creek and Liss Na Tintri
finished first and second in the mares’ bumper. “I’ve trained since 1974 and have been lucky enough to have some very nice horses along the way,” Kiely says modestly. Many of these have been mares, and the trainer continues: “I’m lucky to have some very nice owners and a lot of them are breeders, so it’s important for them to see their fillies and mares performing on the racecourse.” Not one to rest on his laurels or bask in the publicity, John Kiely will be happy to settle back quietly in his yard and will no doubt already be looking ahead to the 2014 Galway Festival, where Carlingford Lough will be hoping to add to his tally. The seven-year-old certainly has plenty more to come, as does his evergreen trainer. n
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