COMING home to Scotland is always a moment that Keith McKenna cherishes but this trip back across the border is perhaps a bit more special than most.
Having relocated to the Midlands from Cumbernauld as a callow 16 year-old to take up an apprenticeship, the 48 year-old returns this weekend as the owner of One More Fleurie, one of the entrants in this afternoon’s Coral Scottish Grand National Handicap Chase at Ayr.
The eight year-old won on his previous visit to Ayr in the Novices' Champion Handicap Chase last year but, at the time of writing, was a 33/1 outsider in some places for today’s race that has been moved from its traditional slot after the Aintree national to the weekend before. And that latter point, McKenna believes, could shake things up a little.
“I’m feeling good about his prospects,” he says. “Obviously he won the Novices last year and we probably could have done without the season finishing at that point.
“He had some wind issues when he came back after the summer but we got that sorted and got him fit and ready again. The ground went against us at the start of this year so we had no option but to run him at Cheltenham and I thought he ran a fantastic race [in the Handicap Chase] and jumped great. It was just a bit of fitness that got him late on.
“This one’s a bit of an unknown but we think he’ll get the four miles. And we’re very confident that he’ll run a good race.
“It might actually help us having it ahead of Aintree as normally if a horse runs there and doesn’t do too well and finishes early they often then get entered in the Scottish national. But on this occasion trainers have had to make that decision in advance over whether to enter for Ayr or hold off for Aintree.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had a good look at the field and it’s going to be tough. But he jumps well, loves the track and I do think he’ll get the distance. Once he got entered I decided to come up the road for it so I’m really looking forward to being there to see how he gets on.”
McKenna first got involved in the sport five years ago and now owns four horses, working with each in conjunction with trainer Ian Williams. It is a commitment he has gradually become more and more invested in and the notion of owning the winner of the Scottish national clearly holds huge appeal.
“I leave a lot of it to Ian but the longer the relationship builds and the more and the more I understand and learn about racing then I feel more relaxed about suggesting what I think he can or can’t do,” adds the Wolverhampton-based owner. “We work very well together. But he’s still the boss and tends to come up trumps with whatever he decides.
“Horses are such a complex thing to manage; whether they take the bit, travelling around different tracks and the variation in the ground. So it’s a real puzzle and I’m learning more and more. In the past I’d just have been sitting watching and wondering why he hadn’t run well.”
McKenna’s other passion is football. A lifelong Celtic supporter, he is also the co-owner and director of football at Halesowen Town, a club based on the outskirts of Birmingham that plays in the seventh tier of English football’s pyramid system.
A former player until injury curtailed his career aged 22, the managing director of M-Tec Engineering Solutions returned to the club in 2015 to work with their youth academy but soon realised the whole place was in a perilous state. He and co-owner Karen Brookes ended up saving them from going under in 2018 and now things are progressing in a far more positive fashion.
It is rare that he misses a home game - as he will do this afternoon with the visit of Histon for an important Northern Premier League fixture - but will be eagerly awaiting updates once the Scottish national is done and dusted.
“It’s a big game as we’re at the business end of the season and we’re near the top of the table so a win will take us closer to promotion,” he adds. “The club is a bit of a sleeping giant – I used to play for them years gone by. We’re on the up and in our last home game we had 1700 fans which is decent. If we can go up this season it will take us into the National League and closer to where we want to be ultimately.
“I don’t miss many games and I’ll be checking regularly for updates once the game kicks off. But when you’ve got a horse running in the Scottish national, especially with it being back home for me, then there’s only one place I could be this weekend.”
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