Image © Healy Racing
Name: Michael Kenneally
Age: 28
From: Dungourney
Ex-flat apprentice Michael Kenneally registered his first point-to-point winner aboard the Johnny Hurley trained Can Daddy Dance at Borris earlier this month.
How did you get involved with horses?
I rode ponies all my life from a very young age. I went to school with a girl called Jill O’Gorman and her parents had ponies at home so I used to go there and ride them.
I started with racehorses then when I was about 11 or 12 with James Sheehan on Saturdays and on school holidays. That’s kind of where it all started with me.
I did a nice bit of hunting growing up with the United Hunt. The hunt was local to me at home with the hunt’s yard located over the road from us so I would hunt with them on Saturdays and Wednesdays when I was off school.
What was the first racehorse you ever sat on?
It was a horse called Round Table Talks, that was many moons ago now! James Sheehan trained him and he was owned by Donnie McAuliffe.
I’ll never forget him! He was maybe ten or eleven years old at the time and he was a real bus.
Where do you work full-time?
I go into Denis Ahern every afternoon, Johnny Hurley four mornings a week and I go to Josh Halley twice a week. They have all been very good to me. They are very flexible if I need to go schooling or galloping, they help me out.
Denis is situated very close to home, so I’ve always had a relationship with him. I would have been there growing up and I’m friendly with his nephew so I would have spent a lot of summer days there as a young lad. It was very easy for me to fall in there.
I got to know the Hurley's from galloping, so I asked them if I could work with them. When I started there, they told me they wouldn’t really have anything for me but three weeks later they started giving me loads of opportunities.
My partner saw that Josh Halley was advertising, so I gave them a ring and they were happy to have me. I go there two mornings a week and I’ve been there for four or five months now.
You were in England for a while, did you know what route you were going to take on returning home?
I was an apprentice to Michael Bell when I was 16. I spent two years there but my weight went wrong very early on. I was fighting a battle with it after my first or second ride, I started to grow and was just getting heavier.
But I enjoyed my spell with Michael, he was very good to me, and it was a great learning time for me.
I left racing for a while and I went to Australia for two years riding out. I came home and did an electrical apprenticeship. I just fell out of love for horses more than anything else.
I met a girl then, went back riding horses and we moved to England for a few months to Nicky Henderson’s. We moved back home, and I went about taking out my license.
How did the ride on Can Daddy Dance come about?
I’m in there four mornings a week! He ran well in Ballyvodock on his previous run. Eoin O’Brien rode him as I was suspended. He was entered in a novice rider's race, so it all fell into place really.
Were you expecting him to run as well as he did?
Yeah, we were really. I rode him in a piece of work the week before and he was fresh and well in himself. I knew if he got an easy lead, he would stay galloping.
For a six-year-old, he’s a lightly raced horse, he’s very honest and that’s what showed most on the day. He never stopped galloping and when he landed at the back of the last, he was a winner.
Did you get some kick out of riding your first point-to-point winner?
Oh yeah, it was great! It was my seventh ride, but it felt like a long time coming. It was very nice to get a winner on the point-to-point circuit, it’s the monkey off my back!
It will be nice to kick on now and hopefully, things will stay rolling for me.
How did it compare to riding a winner in England?
It was very different. Here, when you're working with them and putting time into them, it’s more rewarding. When you’re riding on the flat, you would be riding for everybody and anybody. You might not see that horse from one end of the year to the next. You might not see those horses again.
But here, you have a part to play working with them at home. It's nice working with the people as well. They are family-run businesses and they’re normal people; hard-working people.
Were your family there on the day?
No, they weren’t there, my partner was there. My parents wouldn’t have any interest in horses! They're more than happy to keep it that way!
Do you know what the plan for Can Daddy Dance is now?
I think he’s going for the point-to-point bumper in Cork over Easter or maybe a winners' point-to-point.
What are your ambitions for the remainder of the season?
Just to ride more winners and hopefully kick on for the season ahead. Youth is not on my side, I’m not 17 or 18 like upcoming jockeys. I hope to make more contacts as quickly as possible and ride more.
Was it always the plan to take out your license?
No, definitely not. I thought my racing days were over. Once I started going into the point-to-point yards the buzz came back and the ambition to ride in races was back.
It was my partner who said it to me to go about getting my license back out again.
Since I’ve come back, I’m loving it, enjoying it more than I ever did. I got more of a buzz riding my first point-to-point winner than my first flat winner. It’s great to be back!
Who is your biggest influence in racing?
Growing up it was probably Paul Carbery, the way he rode, he was very stylish and very effective.
The likes of AP McCoy, Ruby Walsh, Barry Geraghty, and Davy Russell as well. I used be on the back of the couch riding a finish wanting to be like them, that was always the dream.
They are the people you want to be like and ride like.
What’s the best advice you have been given?
If you throw enough s**t at the wall something will have to stick!!
The best advice I was given is 'what’s the worst that can happen'?
Are there any up-and-coming riders to look out for?
Shane Cotter is a very good rider. He's got talent, and the right attitude going forward. He’s a great rider, great brain, and has a lovely pair of hands.
Have you any interests or hobbies outside of racing?
I love golf and I’m a big Liverpool fan! A bit of hurling on the side as well.
We’ve just bought a house, so we are doing that up. That’s taking up most of the time in the evening now.
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— p2p.ie (@irishp2p) March 26, 2024
Ex-flat apprentice Michael Kenneally registered his first p2p winner aboard Can Daddy Dance at Borris House earlier this month.
%uD83D%uDC49To find out more about Michael click here https://t.co/tFIMVZ6YKP pic.twitter.com/5eyC23KSo7
