David Harry Kelly is carving a niche for himself as one of the country’s up and coming horse trainers. Irish Tractor & Agri magazine met up with the Fethard-based horse man to discover how he has earned a reputation as having a real knack for getting the best out of his charges.
Having cut his teeth as a point-to-point jockey, Harry Kelly’s determination to make an impression on a national scale saw him take out a track licence in 2012.
Located in the shadow of the world renowned Coolmore Stud, he has established his ‘Railway Stables’ in his native Fethard into a top class training establishment and the quiet and picturesque surroundings make it an ideal setting for training horses.
“I trained point-to-point for a couple of years before taking out my track licence three years ago,” the affable Harry explained to Irish Tractor & Agri magazine.
“I always had passion for horse racing. Initially, I worked as a labourer with John Halley and rode a bit as an amateur. Unfortunately, I had little success, riding just two winners, but I had lots of fun. I like to think that I’m a better trainer than I was a jockey!”
Reflecting on the early days of the yard, he added: “Moyle Park was one of the standout horses we’ve had had here. He was very good to us, won a Bumper first time out before being sold out of the yard for big money. He was very lucky for connections early on but, unfortunately, met with a couple of injuries.
“Que Pasa was a mare who was excellent early in her career and won many races and then there was also On Impulse who sold out of the yard to Ted Walsh.”
Very much a family affair, Harry is assisted in the day-to-day running of Railway Stables by his brothers Jimmy and Mikey while his wife Gemma is also a vital cog in the operation.
Harry saddled his first winner, Hiltop Tommy, under flat rules at Cork in May 2012 and so far in his fledgling career he has racked up 36 first placed finishes.
At the time of writing, he lies in 19th place in the National Hunt Trainer 2015/2016 table. He has enjoyed eight winners out of 122 runners along with 11 seconds, 19 thirds and 12 fourths. His winners has helped him notch up a highly respectable €114,095 in prize money.
Back in July, the yard celebrated its first course double courtesy of Theatre Sunset and Isnt Dat Right at Wexford. Jockey Sean Flanagan partnered 16/1 outsider Theatre Sunset to victory in the opening race on the card. In a pulsating finish, he edged out 11/4 favourite Hard Fought and Mark Enright by a neck in the two-mile maiden hurdle. It was a night to remember for Harry and his team as he completed a first and last race double which would have paid over 200 to 1 with another outsider in the final bumper.
Pa King drove out 12/1 shot Isn’t Dat Right to hold Pearl Diamond from the powerful Willie and Patrick Mullins team (100/30) and the favourite Petuna (11/4).
Harry and Gemma missed the milestone achievement as they were putting the finishing touches to their wedding preparations but, needless to say, he harbours ambitions to climb the trainer ranks in the coming months.
“We have 25 to 30 horses riding out all year round. They’re primarily National Hunt horses but I keep a couple of dual purpose horses to keep me handy.
“They are mostly young horses. Lagostovegas is one of our main hopes this year. She’s a nice, young filly while Curragh na Gold is nice mare who has won a couple of races for us.
“We don’t have any Grade One horses but Railway Zira will go for a couple of graded races. “In addition, we’ve a number of nice fillies and horses that haven’t run yet on the track but I don’t want to jinx them by naming them.”
Training horses is a tough game but it’s nigh impossible without the backing of owners who are prepared to place their trust in the trainer. Harry has no such worries in that regard. “We’re lucky to have a lot of good owners who I also would count as my friends. Each and everyone of them have been very loyal and supportive. Anyone who came to us has stayed with us.
“We’ve great owners and even better staff. The only bad thing is I’m paying them too much!” he quipped.
The steady progress made by Harry and his yard has seen him earmarked as a young horse trainer who has a bright future in front of him. As his prowess in the training ranks becomes wider known, looking ahead to the future, he hopes to attract a better class of horse to Railway Stables and, in turn, consistent levels of success on the track.
“Every year the aim is to try to build and improve, try to get a better quality of horse into the yard. I particularly like training fillies. That has always been my thing and I tend to do well with them. A lot of my winners on the track so far this year were fillies and I’m sent a lot of fillies to train.
“You’re always hoping that an owner will come in and he or she will say they want to spend a lot of money. In the meantime, we’ll keeping tipping and hopefully get a bit of success along the way.
“We’re all trying to be second best to Willie Mullins!”
Railway Stables
Rathvin,
Fethard,
Co. Tipperary
Tel: 087 2022557
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 4 No 2, February 2016
