Killarney gets royal seal but O'Brien makes honours list
Her Majesty was a non-runner but Johnny Ward is impressed by his visit to Killarney
Sunday August 23 2009
K ILLARNEY racecourse is something else. Not long ago, it welcomed David Ashforth for a leg of the colourful journalist's well-known racetrack tours.
Various categories were given marks out of five. For scenery, Killarney was awarded six. The track itself is not especially remarkable, but everything around it certainly is. You feel as though you are circled by a range of mountains, protected further by the cradling lakes.
There will come a time when seasons will mean nothing whatever to Irish people, and indeed summer -- given the disgustingly sunless, humid days that have characterised 2009 -- could even become the least desirable of them all. Killarney had to abandon on Thursday, and on the Tuesday -- when I made my first visit to the town -- they had sun, wind, rain and no end of ashen cloud.
The clouds were such that it was impossible to distinguish the summits of the mountains, which seemed no more than a few miles away. This was Killarney's inaugural August festival, which they took over from Tralee due to the latter course's impending transformation into a GAA ground.
As might have been expected, the crowds were considerably less than what Killarney attracts for its four-day July meeting. Such indifference from the locals had much to do with Tralee's demise, though an all-Flat card on the Tuesday could be partly blamed for a fairly modest turnout.
They did flock, however, for a rare attraction. Queen Elizabeth II owned the favourite in the feature Listed race, which honoured the late Vincent O'Brien. It was her first runner in Ireland in 37 years, but in an apparently astute piece of placing, Aidan O'Brien -- Vincent's replacement at Ballydoyle -- numbered Windsor Castle among his pair of runners to take on The Queen's Four Winds.
There was word of herself making a visit, but security seemed rather lax and it transpired to be no more than a mischievous rumour, of which there are many in Ireland's Kingdom. I did not know this, however, so I paced around the betting ring prior to the first race to see if she was studying the prices.
Instead, I had to do with hurling analyst Cyril Farrell, who shook my hand without the protection of gloves and relayed his high regard for Killarney. "I usually would stay a couple of nights and we enjoy the break in Kerry: usually it's between the big hurling games and it's nice just to get away from it all. There's a different atmosphere down here and you're nearly always meeting the same people. If you go out to Muckross in the morning, to take in the walks up the hills and the waterfalls, it's unreal. I used to bring teams here to get away from the pressure."
Farrell, through hurling, is a friend of Jim Bolger and he has an emotional investment in Coolcullen's horses. However, the former Galway boss is at most cautiously optimistic about Bolger's runners on the night and his assessment is justified as the Wexford man fails to register a winner.
Under the old-fashioned stands, Patrick Kielty forms a fifth of a huddle of men seemingly engaged in a pact. Indeed, they are here to back a nag owned by the comedian's friend. The Down man appears to be clasping green euro notes, and refuses to name the horse in question pre-race.
After it, I venture that -- notwithstanding the spectacular surroundings -- punters get an excellent and intimate view of the field during the race. "Yeah you're right, but we saw far too much in that. Our lad trailed home," laments Kielty, who claims to really be in Killarney for more noble concerns.
"Obviously, being from the North, it is 37 years since the Queen had a runner in Ireland, so I'm here to support her. I think it's my duty really. I must nip into the ring whenever the Queen's horse is running around."
He is actually in Kerry for a wedding, at which point I reason that marriage is surely becoming an increasingly obsolete pursuit. "Well Tom here got married a few weeks back," Kielty responds, pointing to his friend, "so he no doubt agrees with you at this stage."
If the Queen actually were here, the mood is so relaxed that she would barely attract much notice. Farrell appreciates it for that. "You can stroll around everywhere you want and you half-know everyone. There are no enclosures or badges; it's just laid-back. It's typical Kerry: they're very nice people and good at the tourism game."
The social equilibrium is advertised by the sight of Michael Bell, trainer of Four Winds, munching a bar of chocolate at a makeshift shop that is little more than a table under the main stand. He sounds confident that his colt will win, albeit without saying quite that, and downplays the significance of Her Majesty's bid to snare Irish prize-money (half-funded by the Dublin government).
"There's no big issue made of it. I said to her, 'I've found this listed race at Killarney' and she said 'what a good idea'. It's all been very low-key. She has a deep knowledge of the sport -- she's been involved longer than you and I put together -- and she's passionate about it. It's the pinnacle of any trainer's career in England to train for her and I'm very lucky. Obviously, you long to do well for her because she's our monarch."
When queried as to what sets Killarney apart from the multitude of other tracks he has visited, the Newmarket handler suggests: "Well, you don't have mountains on the back straight anywhere in England."
In the homely restaurant area under one of the stands I meet John O'Riordan, a Killorglin native who is infatuated by horses -- but a sojourn to Killarney is, for him, a more spiritual pursuit. "This would be my local track and I'd know most of the people here. Most of the time I'm here, I don't really care about having a bet: it's more to meet the people. Noel
beside me here has been coming for 30 years.
"There are three bars and when we came here in May to the members' bar, we never left it. They have leather seats, televisions -- you could watch the soccer that was on -- and the Tote was there, so if you've no interest in seeing the horses, you can really relax there."
They're proud of where they hail from in these parts, but Four Winds is a well-punted favourite and Jamie Spencer's mount has no shortage of vocal support. However, after making his challenge half-way up the long straight, Four Winds starts to labour and it is Aidan O'Brien's Poet that takes the honours, denying what must have been a popular forecast bet: Four Winds edged Windsor Castle for second.
As dusk draws near, the racing winds down and the mountains become ever less visible. Many will now flock into the town, amid the odour of manure from the jarveys' horses, while others will quietly make their way home. "They all look like winners here to me," Kielty contends. "Nobody looks as if they lost their house."
The unassuming folk here wouldn't make a song and dance about it, even if they had. It is hard not to feel at peace in Killarney.
