Landmark success for Kiely partnership as Liberated Light delivers at Killarney
Three trainers who were on the scoreboard here on Monday repeated the feat on Tuesday, but for the partnership of John Kiely and his nephew, Tommy, it was a red-letter day as they put a first win on their card when Liberated Light took the William Hill Epic Value Qualified Riders’ Maiden.
Settled off the pace by John Gleeson, the full brother to A Dream To Share came wide to start his challenge and found plenty in the closing stages. The Banger Doyle fluffed the start and ran a remarkable race to finish a close second, the two nicely clear of the third.
“First joint winner, so it’s great to get the monkey off the back,” said Tommy Kiely. “We had a few good runs, a few that hit the crossbar, but it’s great to get that out of the way. When the season changed, John and I went in as a partnership.
“The horse was in England with Richard Fahey, and he lost his way a bit, and then he came back to us. I’d say he’s still maturing, and he may go on again. It was lovely for the mare that he won a maiden as Brian (Gleeson, owner) still has the mare.
“And John gave him a great ride — he’s riding out of his skin. The horse ran a good race in Listowel and in Tipperary, but it looked like a competitive race, and you can never be too optimistic, but we were hopeful.”
Of those successful on Monday, Paddy Twomey set the ball rolling with Vain Gloria, who made an impressive winning start to her career in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies’ & Mares’ Maiden.
Heavily backed in the early markets but a little weak on the show, she travelled kindly for Billy Lee and picked up stylishly to readily put the race to bed. A half-sister to recent bumper winner Vadsa Queen, Twomey revealed it was the plan to start her off here.
“First time out you never know (what to expect) but I was hoping she’d run a nice race,” said the winning trainer. “She’s a nicely bred filly — her mother is a sister of a couple of good horses. We bought her as a yearling and it’s great to have a winner for Stanley (Watson) and Trevor (Stewart). Stanley has a summer house close by and he’s said Killarney would be good, so I said we’d aim for that. We’ll probably go for a winners’ race now.”
John O’Donoghue, who saddled Beechwood to win on Monday, got his second success of the meeting when Final Check took the William Hill Epic Boost Handicap. Out of a Group 3 winner and a half-sister to four horses with black type, she looked in trouble turning for home but found plenty for Andy Slattery and ultimately won with a bit to spare. Handicap debutant Partisan Hero went into the notebook as a surefire future winner.
“She’s a very well-bred filly and that was the brief from early,” said O’Donoghue. “I think she’ll stay at a mile for the time being and see how far up the ladder she can go. This is a starting point and with her tremendous pedigree, if she’s anything like her siblings, there’s a little bit more in the locker.”
Tracey Collins and Michael Halford took the final race on Monday and continued their good run by taking the William Hill Extra Place Races Daily Handicap with top weight Chally Chute. Ronan Whelan, who had a double on Monday, was in the saddle and it was quite straightforward despite the horse not having run for almost three months.
Never far off the pace, he eased into a challenging position in the straight and, trying the 17-furlong trip for the first time, ran on strongly to win well. A trip to Galway, possibly for the qualified riders’ race, is on the cards, depending upon how much the handicapper penalises him.
The most valuable race on the card was the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies’ Handicap, and Satin put a second win on her card with an easy victory. Shane Foley, riding for Jessica Harrington, made the running and while his mount was headed briefly in the straight, there was plenty left when he asked for maximum effort. This was a fine effort from the daughter of Australia, running over 11 furlongs for the first time.
There was a minor upset in the second race in which Coolree, returning to maiden company having been contesting handicaps, made all the running under Leigh Roche. Trained by Jennifer Lynch, the 63-rated gelding dug deep under pressure to fend off odds-on favourite Most Wanted. The pair came close together in the closing stages and the runner-up appeared to be struck by the whip of the winning jockey.
Kerry native Michael O’Callaghan, who recently moved from his Curragh yard to Brannockstown, took the William Hill Lengthen Your Odds Handicap with Church Mountain. Delivered late by Joey Sheridan to win on what was just his second start for the stable, he is likely to head to Galway in two weeks’ time bidding to enhance a fine record at the venue, having won twice in three runs there when trained by Denis Hogan.
