Back in November 1997 I visited the Killenaule Kennel of the late great Irish handler Matt O’Donnell. I had known Matt for many years and was even an owner in the kennel at one stage.
However, I still considered it was a great privilege for a such a private man to share his views on his life in my newspaper.
Matt, and wife Frances, who took over the licence, achieved many more successes after this article was published and prior to his death in January 2016, notably through the ‘Skywalker’ runners.
Here is that original unaltered piece in which Matt talks openly about a variety of his ideas about kennel routine, training for track and field, schooling and injuries.
Floyd Amphlett (editor)
WINNING FOR MATT
OFTEN controversial, frequently outspoken but consistently successful, Matt O’Donnell is a man at the pinnacle of his profession. This month we present a special feature on the most successful greyhound trainer of the past decade. Matt gives us an insight into the theory and method that have seen hundreds of open race winners emerge from the famous Killenaule kennel.
KENNELING
Many people will be surprised to discover that the O’Donnell kennels include a mixture of the small ‘crate type’ kennels similar to the American style plus the traditional block built kennels.
O’Donnell says: “I built the cages after having a dog hurt jumping up at the bars.
“They are not exactly the same as the American ones because I have coated ply between the kennels so the dogs can’t see each other.
“The American kennels have wire between them. It is the best thing I ever did and I have 32 of them converted now.
“There was a good example with Batties Rocket when I bought him over to England for the Derby. In our kennel, he’d been as good as gold.
“But when he went back into one of the open kennels, he’d be off his bed and jumping up at the bars every time someone walked into the place.
“We managed to get him one of those travelling cages and once he was in there and couldn’t jump up he was much better.”
“The cages don’t suit all dogs. I’ve had a couple so far who worked themselves into a right state when we put them in there.
“But those are few and far between and you’d know in a very short time if a dog wasn’t content.
Certain trainers will not kennel more than one racing dog on his own even in a double kennel.
O’Donnell said: “That wouldn’t worry me at all. In some cases I’d be concerned about the boredom for the dog.
“I think you should do what the individual dog likes and they are all individuals. For a lot of dogs, just having the plywood between them and the next kennel means they don’t feel as if they are own their own.
“They can hear the sound of the other dog a few inches away. The other good thing I did was get a good extractor fan installed. It comes on automatically when the temperature rises and switches off again when it gets low enough.”
Presumably the fan also keeps down the smell in the kennel?
“Thats one thing we don’t have a problem with” says O’Donnell. Its sawdust that holds the smell. We don’t need it because the dogs are emptied out so often.”
EXERCISE
“OUR dogs are worked very hard” says O’Donnell, “a dog has to be able to take the work is he is going to be good.”
Exercise takes two main forms in the O’Donnell kennel, walking and galloping.
Because of the number of dogs in the kennel, a walking machine is absolutely vital, particularly in severe weather. They use an indoor rotating machine with eight arms capable of walking upto 24 dogs though the normal workload is between 16-18 dogs.
The racing dogs would all have half an hour on the machine twice a day – approximately four miles. In decent weather, the dogs are also walked out on leads. Twice around the perimeter of the grounds, approx a mile, gives the dogs the chance of seeing plenty of wildlife.
Much of the exercising takes place on the superb 320 yard uphill gallop.
It is in pristine condition throughout the year, barring frost, and outstrips and of the schooling or racing tracks in terms of safety.
With all the dogs timed, it is a great guide to fitness and ability without ever leaving the premises.
Virtually every racing dog will be galloped at least three times per week.
Matt said: “An occasional dog wouldn’t want it, but some would want more. Its up for you to find out.
“A few years ago I had a dog called Bins Bridge who needed to be galloped nearly every day, even the night before a race and we only discovered it by accident.
“In those days there was a festival at Kilkenny and the dogs had to run Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
“The dog ran his best race and did his fastest time in the final.
“He ran in an Irish Derby Final which looking back afterwards, he should have won.
“I wasn’t able to gallop him for the couple of days before the final because they had the machines out on the bog cutting the peat. He suffered because of it.
“Farloe Melody was another one who needed a gallop to stop him cramping up.
When it comes to the coursing dogs, the exercise regime is much tougher.
O’Donnell says: “There would be twice as much work for a coursing dog.”
So how long would it take to prepare a dog for a coursing trialstake?
Matt replies: “It would all depend on how the dog had been reared.
“If he had been in the sort of place with with big paddocks and plenty of galloping, you could be ready in six weeks.
“But if the dog wasn’t used to work it could be twice that long.
“You can’t rush these things, the dogs have to be made fit gradually, if you rush it they will just break down.
“People often wonder why our dogs are so well muscled and they think we are giving them things we shouldn’t” says Matt.
“You can be sure a few years ago that some trainers had dogs on gear to help build them up.
“But testing put a stop to all that and some of those trainers started to struggle.
“Our dogs carry the muscle because of the sheer hard work and good food that we put into them.
“You can see that by the way they keep running. Look at Farloe Melody, still running in great form at four years old.
“Batties Rocket is another great example. You can’t keep dogs going that long if you are abusing them.”
REARING & SCHOOLING
WHILE Matt is best known for his training, both he and wife Frances love pups and breeding.
Matt’s breeding line descends from the great Dunguib Lass who can be found on the dam lines of such dogs as The Other Risk, Druids Johno, Toms The Best and Mr Pickwick to name but four.
Slaneyside Hare undoubtedly owed much of his early pace to his grandsire The Other Duke.
Frances brought Green As Metro into the family and a mating between Matt’s Arrancourt Duke and Frances’ bitch produced Lady Arrancourt, the dam of Batties Rocket and Spirit.
One of the two sites at Killenaule is set aside for rearing and the whole operation is pristine.
A series of seven beautifully kept paddocks, including one of five acres, are bordered by top quality chain link fencing. The bill for the fencing alone came to £28,000.
Matt said: “We have the paddocks of different lengths so the pups don’t race against each other the whole way.
“We also swap the pups around every three days. That way they don’t get bored with one paddock.”
The O’Donnell pups are generally bought into kennels at around 12 months – sooner if they are fighting among themselves.
They are given two months to settle into kennels. They will then be sent ten or a dozen times up the gallop and hunted a couple of times before any thoughts of the track are considered.
Matt says: “You don’t want to be taking any pup schooling if he isn’t in decent shape, you are just asking for injuries.”
At around 16 months, the pups will probably be taken along to the schooling track, at first just to get used to the routine and travelling.
It is quite common for them to be 18 months old before they are given their first handslip.
Matt says: “If they go well enough, without checking, we would probably probably put them in the boxes the next time.
“I like to hold them in the boxes for the first time to stop them turning around.
“If they go okay and are doing qualifying time, then we’ll give them a proper trial.”
Matt is aware that many people school pups as young as 12 months old. It is a recipe for disaster.
“Look at all the young dogs that are carrying injuries. In many cases it is because they are schooled too early.
“To a certain extent, you can understand it with some of the Irish lads. They have dogs to sell and they need to get some good form on the card before the dog is too old.
“But how do the British lads justify it? In general, they are not in the market for selling dogs yet they still push them on too early.
“If anybody takes any advice at all from this article, it should be – be patient with pups.
INJURIES
With a busy racing kennel injuries are inevitable and ‘The Other’ Kennel (the kennel prefix) has a complete arsenal for tackling whatever comes along.
Matt says: We have four manetic field therapy boxes.
“We put the racing and coursing dogs in them the following day after they’ve run to reduce soreness.
“We have two lasers which are useful for injuries near the surface and are particularly good for back problems.
“For wrists we would use the Stimsonic machine and ultra sound. You treat the wrist in a bucket of water.
“For muscle injuries I have a lot of faith in the inter-feradic and use an ultrascan machine.
“We also have a Rollex machine which is excellent for building up muscle on coursing dogs.
“The bottom line is patience. None of the equipment will do you any good if you try to rush things.”
Although he has won three Irish Derbies, seven St Legers, an Oaks, an English Derby etc etc, there is one race that has always eluded Matt O’Donnell – the Irish Laurels
“I’ve had a stack of finalists but could never win the damn thing. We finished second twice, each time to a new track record.”
Never slow to speak his mind, Matt was one of several trainers barred from Clonmel track under a previous management following a disagreement over procedures.
The good news is, he will be back in 1998 for the Produce Stakes and probably earlier in the year if he has runners for suitable stakes.
So which are his favourite tracks in Ireland?
He says: “Before it closed for development, Thurles had to be the best gallop in Ireland. It was always a very fair test of a dog.
“Now, I would have to say Waterford. Although I am not a big fan of sand tracks, they lay-out at Waterford is excellent.
“Even though I prefer grass to sand, I would much rather race on a full sanded track that one with grass straights and sanded bends.”
And what of Shelbourne?
He said: “Its not bad but it could be better.
“First of all, I would like to see them take the turf closer to the first bend before they sand it.
“Certain dogs are seeing the sand and starting to turn before the reach the bend.
“I would also like to see a wire along the backstraight to stop the dogs moving so wide. The space on the outside of the hare rail encourages
UNLUCKIEST DOG YOU’VE TRAINED? “That would have to be Ardfert Sean” says Matt. He should definietly have won an Irish Derby.
“Unfortunately in the final, the dogs were in the traps for 30 seconds before the hare reached them. In the heats it was averaging out at around 12 seconds. It was no surprise that he missed his break completely.”
GREATEST TRAINING FEAT? Since taking out his license in 1968 there are probably two that stand out above the rest.
The most recent was sending Batties Rocket and Spirit to finish first and second places in the 1995 Irish Derby Final.
The other has its roots way back in the Produce Stakes of 1978. Matt had Always Kelly, Loch Bo Rover, Malange, Brilliant Champ, and Fly Future in the final.
They finished first, second, third, fourth, and fifth.
UNFULFILLED AMBITION “To win the Coursing Derby” he says, “with a pup I have bred myself out of The Other Toss. I finished runner-up a few years ago and I have a litter here by Silent Classic out of her so you never know.”
CLASSIC HONOURS
Irish Derby
1995 BATTIES ROCKET
1991 ARFERT MICK
1990 THE OTHER TOSS
Irish St Leger
1978 RHU
1982 SUPREME TIGER
1985 BALLINTUBBER ONE
1986 STORM VILLA
1989 DEREEN STAR
1992 BAREFOOT DASH
1995 BATTIES SPIRIT
Irish Oaks
1987 YALE PRINCESS
Produce Stakes
1978 ALWAYS KELLY
1985 KANSAS REBEL
1989 ARRANCOURT DUKE
Irish Grand National
1979 KEERAGH SAMBO
English Derby
1992 FARLOE MELODY
Irish National Sprint
1994 JACKIES PHANTOM
