FEBRUARY 3rd, 2016 changed everything; She’s A Star the first horse I bred and reared, ran at Down Royal. Trained by Noel Meade, ridden by Nina Carberry and carrying the colours of Philip Meade.

This was what it was all about – four years in the waiting, four long years of not knowing what to expect.

Unsold as a yearling for €1,000, now standing barely 15.3hh, small and weak up against big strong fillies and geldings. It was make or break time.

Despite Noel having liked her, coming up the home straight she was last, and I thought that’s where she was going to finish.

Then Nina switched to the outside, gave her a kick in the belly and that was it, over in a flash, won by five lengths going away.

The record books would later read “bred by Christopher McKeever” - bred by me!! It was the start of my fledgling breeding operation.

I’m just your normal Joe Soap. I’ve had a huge interest in horses for about 60 years, spending time with Michael Cunningham and Noel Meade in the early years.

In 1978 I married Anne and her support is second to none. I spent 12 years in the local factory working nights and training two or three horses during the day. I had some success, notably winning with Swap Fashions at the Galway Festival. I always tried to combine family with work and horses but that proved harder in reality, so in 1991 I started working for Meade Potato Company, where I remain to this day.

As a result I stopped with the horses and concentrated on family life - three sons and a daughter and fleadh cheoils. I had a life again, for a short while at least.

In 2002 I was diagnosed with malignant cancer on the kidney. Following the operation and removal of the kidney, I made a promise to myself and Anne that if I came right I was going to either own or breed a winner. I got involved in some syndicates, had horses with A.J. Martin, Oliver Finnegan and Graham McKeever but all to no avail.

CHEEK

In 2011, I discovered my pension fund was losing money, yet the fund manager had the cheek to tell me that if I’d spare money I should add it in! I was livid and told him I was better of backing the last favourite every day.

Shortly afterwards I took out my money and myself and Anne put enough aside for tickets to Australia for a holiday and I bought a horse. I was back.

So in 2013 we went to Australia for two months. We just happened to be racing at Rosehill when Gordon Lord Byron won the Group 1; it was a great day to be Irish. I was talking to Tom (Hogan) before the race and he said he’d go very close, so we had $100 on at 20/1. That was enough to pay for our flights, effectively giving us a free holiday!

We also went racing in Randwick and Hawksbury but had no further luck. The mare I’d bought before going to Australia, Lobinstown Girl, had been owned by a syndicate of local lads and was placed twice from nine starts under the care of Noel Meade.

After she got injured, the option was there to buy her cheaply so I invested. I rang my brother, Colin McKeever, and asked him did he know of any cheap but up-and-coming stallions for around the €1,000 mark. He had a horse called Chosen Native that he liked by Well Chosen, (last season he had a 56% strike rate, 11 different runners in a row, 11 winners )standing at Kedrah House Stud.

So I rang Tom Meagher and we clicked straight away. I sent Lobinstown Girl down, along with another mare I got off my mother, her last racehorse, Miss Audacious, a Supreme Leader mare and both were covered, and later scanned in foal.

Miss Audacious already had a filly (by Shantou) in training with Colin and she won and was placed three times from six point-to-point starts.

Shortly afterwards, David, my eldest son and a vital asset to the operation, leased and pre-trained a horse called Apache Rose, but she got injured on her only start.

However, he thought an awful lot of her so, after a lot of arguing, we decided to take her on also. Room wasn’t plentiful, we have no land nor stables, we’re renting bits of gardens here and there and people would say they were the best-travelled horses in the country.

In fairness to David, he did his homework on her, she had a half-brother called Willyanwoody, who ran once in a chase and won by 22 lengths; the horse that was second was subsequent Irish Grand National winner Niche Market. Sadly he fell and died on his second start but had a full-brother yet to come on the scene.

That latter animal turned out to be Long House Hall, who has won five races so far and was second at this year’s Cheltenham Festival in the Coral Cup and recently won the Summer Plate at Market Rasen (listed chase) by eight lengths. As if that wasn’t good enough, Carlingford Lough appeared on the page since we have the mare and he needs no introduction.

To date we’ve bred five colts and four fillies from the three mares (all Well Chosen). Our aim is to sell the colts as foals or yearlings and get the fillies as close to racing as possible.

Gerry Keane breaks them in and gives us his opinion and we go from there. He’s invaluable to us but all along the road everything is for sale. We’ve sold colts to Noel Meade, David McGrath, Pat Coffey and John Berry.

Noel has Shes A Star’s full-sister in training at the minute. We’ll likely go to war at the November Sales again this year with Apache Rose’s yearling gelding.

Overall, it’s been a whirlwind of a ride, struggles, tears and blood but now, finally, it’s all been worthwhile. After 60 years of trying, I’ve succeeded, I’ve bred a winner. Now and again when I go for a quiet pint, a voice, a whisper, says “when’s our horse running again’’.

Christopher McKeever was in conversation with John O’Riordan