Oi Oi Mentor

Headleys mentor got the business done when it mattered last night winning the final of the Nora kelly retirement stakes in tralee
After badly missing his break in the semis he had to be on his best behaviour at trap rise to win this competitive affair,trap 4 bridge savings looked the one to beat but he didn't really put his best foot forward after a moderate start
Trap 3 spruce joy broke best along with reserve trap 5 loher madge and mentor was only third hitting the corner but i thought he was close enough if good enough and up the back he powered ahead to lead at the 3rd by a couple,from here on he controlled the race and ran out an easy enough winner by 2 lengths form spruce joy in 28.99
Headleys mentor is my first sweepstake winner as a private trainer and i have to say it was pretty sweet and the fact is was named after that tralee stalwart Nora Kelly made it a little extra special
Owner D.J O'Mahoney was thrilled with the win and by all accounts didn't sleep a wink last night waiting for the video to go online...lol
Its likely we will head for the tote gold cup in headquarters next with him in 2 weeks time,a big step up in class for sure but we will have a crack at it anyway and if i get a chance i may head up next weekend to give him a trial

Pups marked and ready to go

kilhoran aoifes 4 pups got their markings yesterday by the control steward cathal sullivan and are ready to move on to the next stage of their rearing,its likely they will be back west for another month or so as tom usually likes to keep them until they are 4 or 5 months before moving them on to new owners

Another final for mentor

Headleys mentor lines up again on friday night in yet another final competing in the nora kelly sweepstake,he missed the kick badly in his semi final but ran a gallant third to qualify,he will have to be a lot sharper from the blocks on friday night to win.
Bridge savings is in the only unbeaten runner in the final and its likely he will be a strong fav but its an open enough race with all dogs in with a chance,again it may be decided at traprise Gneeves dazzler has superb early pace and is taken to lead after her brilliant split last week,she is capable of better to the bend and will be a tough nut to crack if turning in front,i will have to turn very handy to her to be in with a shout and i wouldnt want bridge savings on my tail either as he showed superb pace in last weeks semi final to win going away
Mentor really deserves to win a final as this will be his fourth sweepstake final competing in in recent times with 2 seconds and a fourth its surely his turn soon!!

Zenas just pipped

Zenas romario lined up in the springbok final last night as a rank outsider at 20/1 but belied his price with a storming run,but was just touched off on the line by clonkeen theo,he ran a blinder and it was a pity he didnt hang on for the win and the 5000 first prize but he ran with credit and his connections where very proud of him,previously known as kilhoran ace i sold him after his second race to jemma davidson and he is certainly going well for jemma and looks the natural successor to plane daddy for her,i was a bit concerned that he may have been quirky when i saw him running over the sticks but after speaking to jemma she assured me hes 100 percent genuine but his owner wanted to try him over hurdles and its a gamble that nearly paid dividends.

Is the big feeze over!!

Today is the first day in weeks that you could say we are frost free,it was a pleasure to look out the window and see the green grass instead of the usual frost covered surface and hopefully it will last
Im hoping to get to work on the dogs in the kennels in the next day or so and try and get a few weeks uninterupted work into them,headleys mentor has recovered well from his recent race and his stress cough is clear,i will just give him the one gallop this week and hopefully there wont be any "bounce" factor come friday night next

Mentor blows hot on a freezing night

Headleys mentor got the job done last night in the first round of the Nora Kelly sweepstake in Tralee he had dropped down a couple of grades for his recent run.
I quietly fancied him on the night but his lack of recent work and the freezing cold night was a slight cause for concern,temperatures dipped to -4 during racing and it was a credit to the track management that they ran off the races in double quick time.
Anyhow i need not have worried as he was foot perfect on the night flashing out of trap 6 and running a real good 2 bends leading by 4 lengths or so rounding the last bend his stride was shortening but he held on readily enough to win in 29.09,the track was later rated 30 slow so an estimated run of 28.79
He will be a strip fitter for the run and the slight stress cough he has this morning will pass quickley
All in all a good nights work and a perfect start to 2011 for the kennel and we collect a few bob off the bookies to boot

Tricky race for mentor

Headleys mentor makes his seasonal debut tonight in the Nora kelly a2 sweepstake,he has drawn a tricky enough heat but I'm pretty confident of a good run from him,if he can get his trapping boots on he will be there or there abouts,he is well short of work due to the frost and snow over the past 6 weeks but the other 5 are more or less in the same boat,it would be nice to start the near year with a win but as ever qualifying is the name of the game and winning is a plus either way the tonight's work out will bring him on and blow away the cob webs

Pups are thriving

Kilhoran Aoifes pups are thriving on the west Kerry air these days;i gave a spin back yesterday to have a gander at them and they are all doing very well and getting up to mischief,the black bitch looks like the boss to me and rules the roost there is nothing between them as regards size and confirmation

i have my eye on one but its a bit early to pick just yet there going on ten weeks and will have to me marked up in the next couple of weeks by the control steward

Shelly gets the job done

kilhoran shelly got the job done in tralee this morning......just...
The track was in a quagmire and was running very slow she was beaten a length in 31.14 so she was doing an estimated 31.20 but the stewards rated the track 60 slow the general opinion was that it was a good bit slower so she has qualified nicely she gave up 6 or 7 lengths from traps to the winner so did well to close the gap to a length at the line and was in front at the pick up she weighed in aty a whopping 73lbs and will probably race very close to that
i wont be doing a lot with her but ill keep her ticking over