Paddy Kiely debut winner Dinner Dance bound for Cheltenham sale

 

The Dansant-sired mare was the only newcomer in the seven-runner field and showed a notably professional attitude throughout.

Disputing the lead early, she regained the advantage after three out and, despite making a mistake at the final fence that briefly saw her surrender her lead, she rallied well on the run-in to score by two and a half lengths from the more experienced and well-fancied Take Some More.

 

“She did it very well,” the Waterford handler said. “She made a mistake at the last, but she showed a bit of depth to come back and get going again. You always like to see that, especially on their first day out.”

 

Ridden by Chris O’Donovan, Dinner Dance was travelling strongly on the long run to the final fence and showed a decisive turn of foot when asked to reassert on the flat.

 

“She’s very straightforward,” Kiely added. “She’s that kind of mare, all she does is eat, sleep and gallop. You wouldn’t get many like her. She’s a pleasure to work with and she came out of the race 100 per cent.”

 

Dinner Dance is a homebred for owner John O’Callaghan, a farmer and breeder based in Rathgormack, who has long been involved in point-to-pointing and has also successfully trained himself over the years. O’Callaghan has been closely associated with Kiely’s operation for a number of seasons.

 

“I know John a long time now. He was sending horses to me to break and eventually he left one or two to train.

 

“I probably talk to him more than I talk to my wife now,” he laughed. “We’re on the phone maybe an hour or two every night. We’re kind of addicted to this now, all we talk about is horses.”

 

Kiely explained that while O’Callaghan remains closely involved, his role with the horses has changed slightly in recent years.

 

“John had a back injury a couple of years ago and he can’t do as much as he would have done before when he trained a few himself. He’s still very involved and still rides out at home, but between that and the farm, he just can’t commit the same time as he once could.”

 

Dinner Dance is out of the Flat-winning Mujadil mare Shishangaan and is a half-sister to Safe Voyage, a 14-time Flat winner and scorer of the Group 2 Clipper Logistics Boomerang Mile at Leopardstown, with her page also featuring several other multiple Flat winners.

 

“She’s kind of flat-bred,” Kiely explained. “Being a half-sister to a Group 2 winner, you’d expect her to have a bit of speed, and she showed that on the run-in.”

 

Kiely has been involved with horses all his life and has worked in a number of yards over the years, including a two-year spell with Joseph O’Brien, along with time spent with Pat Flynn, Paul Linehan and Dermot Ryan, before setting up on his own.

 

He sent out his first runners between the flags during the 2016/17 season and has trained four point-to-point winners to date. From two runners between the flags so far this season, he has already recorded a winner, giving him a 50 per cent strike rate.

Kiely operates a small but selective operation from his Stradbally base alongside his younger brother David, who is currently sidelined through injury.

 

“It’s more or less myself and David that do them together,” Kiely explained. “He’d normally be riding them, but he had a bad fall in Loughrea in October and hasn’t been riding the last few months. We’ve just had to cut back a bit, but the show has to go on. I am missing him though, as he’s very good with the young horses and gets them going.”

 

Kiely took out his trainer’s licence for the track last spring and currently has four or five horses for racing under Rules, alongside a handful of point-to-pointers and a small pre-training operation.

 

Kiely was keen to acknowledge the support he receives at home.

 

“My wife Sara has been very supportive of me with the horses. This game takes a huge amount of time, and she’s really the one who encouraged me to go down the training route and take out the licence in the first place.”

 

He also paid tribute to the help he has received around the yard in recent months.

 

“I’ve a great girl coming in to me the whole time, Alice Power, who holds an amateur licence, and a young lad from the village, Cian Costello. He’s only 15 but he’s mad into horses.

 

“I was delighted to get Chris O’Donovan to ride her. I’ve always admired him and he gave her a great ride.”

 

Dinner Dance will now travel to Cheltenham for the sale this weekend, with Kiely hopeful her debut success and pedigree will attract interest.

 

“She was always for sale,” he concluded. “John gives them all a chance and runs them, but he’s a seller. We just wanted to give her a nice first day out and let her show what she can do. Hopefully now she’ll make a nice horse for whoever buys her.”