Cork jockey Mikey Kenneally lands stunning 250-1 winner at Naas
NAAS STUNNER: It's Bobsled Time and Dungourney jockey Mikey Kenneally pictured with groom Luke Murphy after producing a shock 250/1 victory for trainer Richard Morrissey at Naas.
Waterford trainer Richie Morrissey, who is an electrician by trade, and Cork jockey Michael Kenneally combined to cause a seismic shock on Monday’s card in Naas.
Partnering the three-year-old It’s Bobsled Time, who had two modest runs under his card, expectation was low, though there was a small late contraction of his odds from 400-1 to 250-1.
For much of the journey in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Academy Hurdle, the rank outsider was running to expectation, and when the runners jumped the last flight, which, in this case, was three out due to the angle of the low-lying sun, he was last of all.
He remained there until the field turned for home, but when Kenneally asked for maximum effort, the response was much greater than could have been hoped for. Making rapid progress on the far side of the track, he led over a furlong out and stayed on stoutly to win quite readily.
The winning rider, though clearly delighted, was somewhat stunned by the performance.
“I can’t really believe it,” admitted Kenneally, who has been one of the rising stars of the first half of the National Hunt season. “He didn’t have a huge amount of form coming into it — he had a few quiet runs — but Richie is a shrewd man, he knows what he’s doing with his horses.
“He’s probably better known for point-to-pointers than anything else, but he does well with them (track runners) as well. It’s my first ride and first winner for him, so we’re happy enough.”
Recalling how the race unfolded, he added: “I couldn’t believe how good I was going, to be honest. We went good and hard early and on that ground, they were always going to stop. I was happy enough to creep away, and he came there doing handstands, really.
“I was just worried when I passed the last that I got there a small bit too soon, but he’s gutsy, he’s game and probably not too bad.”
The winner's odds of 250-1 matched those returned by Eoin McCarthy's Kingdom Calling when he won at the Listowel Harvest Festival in 2024 but were shy of the record 300-1 returned by He Knows No Fear winning a Leopardstown maiden in August 2020 and Sawbuck when he won a Punchestown maiden hurdle in May 2022.
