TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter - Noel Kelly

Article by Lissa Oliver

When six-year-old gelding Size Five landed the recent Join Racing TV Now Handicap Hurdle, a Go North Brindisi Breeze Series Qualifier at Perth, Scotland, he also landed his County Derry-based trainer Noel Kelly with our TopSpec Trainer of the Quarter award. It may not have appeared to be a significant win, but Size Five was returning from an injury that had kept him off the track since 26th December 2022, a break of 640 days.

It was a major gamble in more ways than one for Kelly, as the gelding had been well backed by punters and romped home by 20 lengths under amateur jockey Oran McGill. Despite earnings of just £105 from four previous starts and rated 92, Size Five  had been working well at home and Kelly had been confident with his first runner in Britain since December, at his lucky track Perth.

The Northern Ireland trainer said on the day, "He does nothing but stay, he just keeps galloping. He's not had much mileage but he shows a wee bit of class at home. I had seven others out and he would gallop all over them.”

Kelly’s base in Draperstown is perfectly positioned to access all of Ireland’s racecourses and allow for British raids. His first winner was Mighty Whitey in 2010 and the predominantly National Hunt stable has gone from strength to strength since then. 

Speaking of Size Five, Kelly tells us, “He’s a gorgeous big horse, 16.2, but last year he was still a bit weak and he needed time. He’s a lot of horse. We were gentle with him at four, but at five he had a wee bit of tendon trouble, not that big, but he did a bit of damage so we limited him to three or four months of just road work.”

Perth wasn’t a specific plan, but as Kelly says, “We knew we had him ready to come back and he had to run somewhere. We didn’t have a lot of summer racing options here in Ireland and some of the tracks were too tight for him and the ground was too firm. So we just waited for the rain to come and sent him over. I walked the track and we chanced him on it and it worked out well.”

Kelly doesn’t yet know if Size Five will be qualified for the Final of the series, having now gone up in the weights 17Ib, which also presents difficulties in planning the gelding’s next race, although he has come out of the Perth race sound and has been working well back at home. 

“He won very easily, but there wasn’t a lot of depth in the race and it’s a bit unfortunate the handicapper has put him up such a high mark, when what did he beat?” But Kelly remains full of praise for the imposing gelding and will be giving him plenty of time and patience to fill his frame, with the promise of more to come.