John Kilroy going very good

By Glenn Davis

It took only a few months for Far North Queensland hobby trainer John Kilroy to realise retirement was boring.

After more than four decades working in the underground mining industry, Kilroy thought it was time to put his feet up to pursue other interests like watching his favourite sports of rugby league and racing.

However, retirement plans didn’t last long for the Tolga-based Kilroy.

“I was a miner for 40 years and I had no plans when I finally decided to retire,” Kilroy said.

“I had a couple of breaks along the way while I was a miner working on farms and driving trucks to fill in time.

“I did a bit of casual work, but I got bored pretty quick so I decided to take out my trainer’s licence in 2017.

“I was doing nothing then except sit in the shed and watch the rain come down.”

Kilroy struck gold with his first horse he trained, a mare named Luvya Beak.

“I bought her for $1,500 but it cost me $1,600 in freight to get her up here,” the 76-year-old Kilroy said. 

Luvya Beak ended up winning 11 races for Kilroy and more than $100,000 in prizemoney.

Kilroy paid a similar amount for his latest find, former Victorian Very Good, who he plans to start in the Benchmark 60 Handicap over 950 metres at Cairns on Saturday.

“I got her for $1,500 as well from Anthony and Sam Freedman in Melbourne,” he said.

“She was a beautiful filly when she landed here but she had thin soles, so I turned her out for a long spell.

“She’s still a baby between the ears and she’s up against a quality field this time in Cairns but she’ll be competitive.”

Very Good never started for the Freedmans and is unbeaten in her only two starts for Kilroy.

She was a narrow winner on debut at Mareeba on September 6 last year and hasn’t raced since a dominant victory over 1000 metres at Atherton on September 27.

Kilroy used to mine for gold, led and copper in his mining days and also played rugby league for the local Richmond Tigers.

“I played in the forwards and did a bit of hooking in those days,” he said.

“I’ve ridden horses all my life but not as a jockey and did a lot of camp drafting.

“I came from a farm in the Riverina in New South Wales and wanted to go to Darwin and stopped off at Richmond along the way, that's how I ended up here.

“I was doing all sorts of jobs back then and a couple of blokes on the railway gangs wanted me to play rugby league for them in the late 1960’s and early 70’s.

“So, I used to hitchhike every winter up from the Riverina just to play footy.”