FOR the first time in a long time, I had reason to talk to Graham McKeever this week, following the success of his Dara McGill-partnered Kirikou D’Ex in the older horses’ maiden at Kirkistown last Saturday.
Graham jointly-owns the six-year-old Spanish Moon gelding with Warren Ewing, the pair having given €32,000 for the bay at the 2023 Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale. He is trained for them by Gerald Quinn with whom McKeever has been working for the past two years.
Graham and Warren had to sit on their investment for some time as Kirikou D’ex only made his debut in a five-year-old geldings’ maiden in November at Tattersalls, where he finished fourth to Trial By Jury. Later that month, in similar company at Kirkistown, he fell at the third fence.
McGill held up Kirikou D’ex on those first two starts, but made all with the 9/4 shot last Saturday, beating the other two runners, who were despatched as 5/4 joint-favourites, by 15 and a half lengths and 10 lengths.
The plan is, or even was at this stage, for the winner to move on from Philip McBurney’s Broughshane yard to pastures new.
Tearful day
I was then reminded that Graham is Colin McKeever’s son when he said of the French-bred: “It will be a tearful day when he goes, we’ve half grown up together he has been here that long. I thought Dara brilliant on the horse on Saturday, he really gave him an excellent ride and Gerald has done a great job training him. We don’t know why he fell second time out, as he’s a super jumper.”
None of Graham’s family was at the North Down meeting on Saturday. “Dad, who just keeps one filly himself to mess around with, would prefer staying at home watching the racing on TV, while Katie (his wife) and the girls (his daughters Layla-Beau and Pixie) don’t do racing in the rain!”
We were delighted to learn that Pixie, who is very keen on riding, recently won her first working hunter competition.
ON a day when there were only 30 runners in total, the six races contested at the North Down meeting in Kirkistown on Saturday produced four locally-trained winners, two of them saddled by Stuart Crawford and ridden by Stephen Connor.
We were very pleased to see that owner/breeder Elizabeth ‘Hammy’ Hamilton had no issue with her car keys on this occasion and that she and partner David Mitchell were able to greet Lisbane following the bay’s win in the five and six-year-old mares’ maiden.
The newcomer by Idaho, who scored by a length from the Gary McGill-trained, Orán McGill-owned and ridden Lady Eimile, is out of the Milan mare Loughshore who was twice-placed in point-to-points. She is dam previously of Jony R, a 2019 Leading Light gelding who has won twice on the track in Hamilton’s colours.
Disappointingly, Largy Bloodstock didn’t breed Largy Leader (Capri - Leader’s Hall, by Saddlers’ Hall) who, on his debut, landed the following Dennison JCB five-year-old geldings’ maiden by one and a half lengths. Both Crawford winners have been entered in the Tattersalls Cheltenham February Sale.
The one-time Crawford-trained Bellaney Lord was the only locally-bred winner I spotted between the flags in Britain last weekend. The 10-year-old Kalanisi gelding, who landed the two and a half-mile mixed open at Friars Haugh on Sunday, was bred by the late Woods Rosbotham out of the Un Desperado mare Bellaney Lady.
Forget the Derry Girls - it’s the boys who are coming!
WITH three rides apiece, Orán McGill had to give best to his one-win brother Dara at Kirkistown on Saturday, but the elder sibling struck back on Tuesday at Ayr where he scored on both horses Noel Kelly brought over from Draperstown.
The first of the pair to visit the winner’s enclosure was Apache Tribe, who justified 4/6 favouritism by 13 lengths in the extended two and a half-mile maiden hurdle in the colours of the McGlone Brothers Partnership.
Owned by the All Play & No Work Syndicate, the 8/1 shot Le Grand Vert brought up the double by one and three-parts of a length in the similarly-sponsored three-mile handicap chase.
Good value
Kelly is always good value when it comes to being interviewed after any win and he was at his best following the success of the six-year-old Jukebox Jury gelding Apache Tribe.
He left viewers in no doubt as to the chesnut’s target next month. We’ve cut it back. “We’re heading to Cheltenham... All the Derry boys is coming to Cheltenham... See you all at Cheltenham boys.”
At the same Racing TV-sponsored Ayr meeting, Scotland-based Co Antrim native Ian Duncan saddled The Coffey Boy to win the opening conditional jockeys’ hurdle for a trio of owners, which includes Stephen Sinclair.
The following handicap chase was won by the eight-year-old Califet gelding Ballymackie, who was bred by Katrina Mackie out of Moll Magee (by Yeats) and started his career with Colin McKeever.
DECKIE Lavery had three good rides at Kirkstown on Saturday.
He partnered two placed horses but sandwiched between them was the great Winged Leader who, in landing the five-runner open by 21 lengths, provided the Downpatrick rider with his 100th win in point-to-points.
This was also a 35th victory between the flags for Winged Leader who is so brilliantly trained by David Christie for John Hegarty and Jenny O’Kane. Lavery rode the now 12-year-old Winged Love gelding only once before, finishing second on the bay in a hunters’ chase at Down Royal in May 2019.
We’re delighted to feature Lavery at the start of our riders’ round-up this weekend, putting him ahead of Brian Hughes, who partnered winners at Doncaster on Thursday week last and at Newbury on Saturday, and Caoilin Quinn who recorded a double at Plumpton on Monday, Danny McMenamin who struck at Catterick on Monday and, on the flat, Dylan Browne McMonagle who added another win to his Hong Kong haul when winning at Sha Tin on Sunday.
Dundalk winners
Also on the level, the Natalia Lupini-trained Summer Island landed the mile apprentice handicap last Friday evening at Dundalk. Among the four-year-old Caravaggio gelding’s owners is Mark Devlin, who is also involved as an owner in the Ado McGuinness-trained Una Matara, who justified favouritism in the preceding handicap.
On the flat breeding front, the opening maiden at the Co Louth track on Wednesday was won by the Andrew McNally-bred/John McNally-owned three-year-old filly Faustyna (Kodi Bear - Ajou, by Siyouni).
Under National Hunt rules, there was a second bumper win in two starts for the Fiona McStay-bred five-year-old gelding Wilde’s Legacy (Poet’s Word - Little Legacy by Zoffany) at Huntingdon last Thursday week; a Grade 2 hurdle victory at Navan on Sunday for the David Laverty-bred Staffordshire Knot (Shantou - Ned’s Joy, by Oscar); and a chase win at Hereford on Wednesday for the Mayne Kidd-bred seven-year-old gelding Everyonesacritic (Hillstar - Loughbrickland Rose, by September Storm).
DON’T forget tonight’s fundraiser in aid of the Neuroscience Appeal at Beaumont Hospital and Bowel Cancer Research UK. Organised by Conan Faulkner, it is taking place in the Bushtown Hotel, Coleraine with an 8.30pm start.