Man of the moment Michael Kenneally: 'It was emotional for the Mulryans to win. She's an improving mare'

Michael Kenneally has had a tremendous season so far, with 26 winners, including a memorable week, victory aboard Cousin Kate in the Dublin Racing Festival, a treble at Fairyhouse last Tuesday, and a double in Punchestown on Wednesday.

He gave his thoughts on his current season, how he got into racing, and the excitement he has about riding good horses, as well as the potential to be riding at the Cheltenham Festival this season.

What has the last week been like since your win aboard Cousin Kate at the Dublin Racing Festival?

It was fantastic. It was emotional for the Mulryans to win. She's an improving mare. But my week is very much the same. I have a small one at home, so whether I ride 15 winners or I ride no winners, she's only happy to see me when I walk in the door.

I'm a dad first and foremost, so it's definitely grounding when you get to go home and see her every day.

The decision to take out a professional licence

I think when you're a young lad, you don't want to be a point-to-point jockey, not to say there's anything wrong with it, but the track is definitely more glamorous.

It was not the plan starting out, but when the point-to-points kind of took off the way they did, and I got on as well as I did, I suppose with my weight and everything, it was probably the next step.

Declan Queally was definitely trying to keep me amateur, but I think he was probably trying to look out for me as much as he possibly could at the same time. I suppose he didn't expect it to go the way it did. None of us really did, but delighted it has, and yeah, look, we'll keep kicking anyway.

I have to give a massive thank you to my agent Garry Cribbin - without him I wouldn’t be where I am he’s doing a top class job so it's a massive thank you to him

The journey into horse racing

I definitely don't come from a racing background anyway. No interest in racing whatsoever in my family. My father is a mechanic, my mother is a social worker, and my brother works as a business analyst in Dublin. Racing is nowhere in the family.

But I suppose there was a yard down the road. It started with a family, the O'Gormans and the Griffins, who were family friends at home. They had ponies, and I was around the same age as the kids, and when I was going over during school days and things like that, I suppose the interest just caught my eye.

I started riding ponies and got my own pony, and James Sheehan, a local point-to-point trainer, was just down the road from us. I suppose it was the next step. I was 12 or 13 years of age and just wanted to be around horses, so I went in to help him mucking out - probably being more of a nuisance than anything else - but I asked plenty of questions and learned along the way.

James was good to me, and everybody on the way up was really good to me, but James definitely taught me how to ride.

I had a good number of point-to-point winners. I was only point-to-pointing for a year and a half, and I was away in Australia as well.

I met my partner during COVID. She's been very good to me, probably the backbone of everything, really. We had a child, and I suppose the next step was to get the point-to-point licence back out. She was annoying me for a couple of years to do it, and when I did, it just kind of worked out. So yeah, it was great.

You've ridden some fiercely talented horses already - what confidence does that bring to a jockey?

Yeah, definitely. Look, I've ridden some fiercely talented horses. They're different animals, but to be honest with you, it doesn't really bother me as long as I'm riding winners.

But these massive rides, on the big days - especially the Dublin Racing Festival and things like that - are special.

Rocky's Diamond was my first ride in a graded race. I was actually looking back at one of those runs in a Grade 2 race, and if you go back through the form, it actually wasn't a bad run.

The winner is a good horse and is in a Grade 2 again now. The second horse came out and won over two and a half miles for Henry, and the third horse, Mouse's horse, was second in a Grade 2 as well. So it actually was a good run, but it's nice to be riding that calibre of horse for sure.

They're really good horses - you know you're riding them because they have more scope, more speed, and more stamina. It's like going to the Flat when you're riding those horses. They're faster, stronger, and better, and you feel that straight away. It's great.

Any winner is great, but what's it like riding them on the big days?

No, look, you want to be on the big stage. The atmosphere, the crowd - it's huge. Cousin Kate the other day, I went down to the last and she came up out of my hands, and you could hear the roar coming in. She landed and went on, and you could hear the crowd roaring.

With The Nagger Reidy at Christmas, you probably didn't feel like you were going to win at one point, but when you get them up, it's fantastic. Walking back into the parade ring on those big days and everybody’s there congratulating you - you’re on cloud nine. Those days are what get your name out there.

There's nothing wrong with riding in Clonmel on a Thursday either, but of course you get more of a kick out of the big days because more people notice you.

If I was to talk to you this time next year, what would you like to have achieved?

Well, I think this season was probably more trial and error - just going out on a whim and hoping it worked, and it has.

Do I set goals? Not necessarily. Just keep riding as many winners as possible. The currency in this game is winners. You need winners to keep your name relevant, and if you're not relevant, you're not riding, and if you're not riding, you're not making money.

I just want to ride as many winners as possible and keep going from there. It would be lovely, obviously, to ride in something like a championship race or pick up another Listed or Graded winner - that would be massive - but there are no strict goals, just keep riding winners.

I'm down to a five-pound claim now. I rode at Thurles with the five, so that was the first day using it. It's nice to be claiming, but it would be nice to keep it for as long as possible as well.

Did you grow up dreaming about riding at the Cheltenham Festival?

I grew up watching Cheltenham. I used to take days off school to watch the Gold Cup. Watching Kauto Star, Denman, the two giants of the game, Big Buck’s in the World Hurdle, Sprinter Sacre, and Master Minded - I grew up watching all of them.

Do I think I’ll be at Cheltenham? It would be lovely to be there. I have no expectations, but it would be nice to get a couple of phone calls between now and then. I haven't got any yet, but who knows - if we're lucky enough to be there, fantastic. If not, we’ll be in Limerick.