When asked where the home of Irish racing is, the common and correct answer will be The Curragh. Not only is it the home to one of Ireland’s leading racecourses, but it is also home to almost 50 horse trainers.
Curragh trained winners are common place and they have been successful in some of the biggest races in horse racing. The Curragh Training Grounds include an array of facilities for training Thoroughbred racehorses on turf and artificial surfaces unequalled anywhere in the world. Comprising of approximately 1500 acres the Training Grounds include 70 miles of grass gallops. They are used on a daily basis of approximately 1000 horses in the care of 60 horse trainers. The Training Grounds are owned and managed by the Curragh Racecourse.
The Training Grounds historically known as Cuireach, has been home to many of racing’s most famous and colourful characters horse and human alike over the years. The Curragh Training Grounds has invested millions of Euro in the Training Grounds and their facilities to ensure that they remain an international centre of excellence for thoroughbred training.
For this month’s edition, we profile one of the trainers based in The Curragh as we take a look at the career of Adrian Keatley who has been a full time trainer since 2014. Adrian could be described as one of the new kids on the block, but he has had a lifetime of experience with horses and is fulfilling his dream of becoming a trainer.
“I come from a farming background and always had a big interest in horses. I did ride when I was younger, but always struggled with the weight. I then went and worked with Oliver McKiernan for two years and I picked up a great deal of experience there. Then in 2010, I decided to go to Australia where I worked with a number of top trainers including Champion trainer Chris Waller. It was tough going out there between the heat and the long hours, but it was a great learning experience,” said Adrian.
“When I came back, I decided I wanted to train myself and with the help of Peter McCreery, I got up and running in a small way at first and now we have 30 horses in training.
Adrian admits that his second year in training was when he made his mark as the impressive Jet Setting upset the form book to land the Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas from the long odds-on favourite, Minding.
“That was a huge boost for the yard and it really put us on the map. It was a dream come true for somebody like me to win a Guineas at the Curragh but the biggest dream is being able to build on that now. I want to have more horses contesting those calibre of races and the focus is yes, to expand our numbers, but to do so with quality rather than getting too much quantity,” he added.
Keatley’s rise through the training ranks in the last few years has been all the more admirable as he also moved yard’s in 2016. When trainer’s do take that plunge to upgrade or change facilities there can often be a time where bedding in is required or it takes a while to get accustomed to new surroundings, but to the public’s eye, Keatley’s move to the Curragh has been pretty flawless.
“The move took more out of all of us than I would have expected. It just took a bit out of the horses, the staff and myself but it was a good move and I’m delighted to be there. We have put in our own water walker, the gallops are only out the gate and we’ve all the options on the Curragh at our disposal and there’s plenty of good riders that come in and ride work for us and hopefully we can keep expanding and keep raising the quality of horse we have.”
Adrian is working alongside some powerful owners like the Chasemore Farm, Rathasker Stud, Simon Kwok, John Dance and the Ontoawinner Syndicate, while as a trainer he boasts numerous different owners including syndicates and long serving loyal supporters since he started out on his own.
“You need to get the big owners on board to have a chance of competing against the top trainers and the only way to do that is to have success on the track. You need a certain degree of luck to have a good horse, but I can tell an owner pretty quickly whether or not a horse will be good or not.
“The standard of horse racing in Ireland is exceptionally high and people in the U.K don’t realise just how high it is. The handicapping structure is far stiffer than in the U.K. ”
There is a lot of talk about a certain few trainers dominating and monopolising the Irish horse racing circuit, but Adrian is far from critical of his peers and believes they are well within their rights to dominate the sport.
“They are entitled to do so, because they have the best horses, simple as that. They have set the bar and it is up to the rest of us to get up to that level. It is certainly not the easiest thing to do, but we are all looking for our big break and hopefully that can happen me. That is the aim for me, to get up to that level and be able to compete against the top trainers in the country.
Adrian does feel that his location at Rossmore Stables in The Curragh gives him an advantage over some of his competitors who are not based there.
“We use some of the best gallops in the world along with the latest innovations in sports science to give our owners and horses the very best opportunities for success.”
Some of the noted winners that Adrian had in the last 18 months include: Blackwater H’cap (Caffe Macchiato – S. Foley – 2018); Committed Stakes (Listed) (The Broghie Man (GB) – G. Mosse – 2018); Win Big With Tote H’cap (Jet Streaming – D.E. Sheehy – 2017); Yulong Trophy H’cap (Lucky Mistake – D.E. Sheehy – 2017); Killashee H’cap (Zeftan – D.E. Sheehy – 2017); Hackett Apprentice Derby (Zeftan – D.E. Sheehy – 2017); Race Displays Rated Novice S’chase (Drumconnor Lad – M.P. Walsh – 2018; Irish Stallion Farms EBF Median Auct Mdn (London Icon – P.J. Smullen – 2017); Toals.com Moneyback as Free Bet H’cap (G Force – S.M. Crosse – 2018); Croom House Stud Irish EBF (Fillies) Mdn (Elusive Duchess – G.F. Carroll – 2017); Irish Stallion Farms EBF M’dn (The Broghie Man (GB) – P.J. Smullen – 2017)
Trainer: Adrian Keatley
Address: Rossmore Cottage,
The Curragh,
Co Kildare,
Telephone: Mob + 353 87 3545349
Twitter: @adrian_keatley
Taken from Irish Tractor & Agri magazine Vol 6 No 6, September/October 2018
