Our Trainer

Eddie Kenneally is the trainer Ridgewood is working with. Eddie was born and raised in Ireland. He has always been around horses. His father, Tommy, rode hunters and broke horses, while his uncle John Kenneally was a jockey who later became a trainer. His brother Johnny operates Erinvale Thoroughbreds, one of the largest consignors in Australia. Eddie came to America in 1987 to start a career with thoroughbred yearling sales. He started training in the early 1990’s under trainers Tom Skffington and Niall O’Callaghan.

In 1997 Eddie started Kenneally Racing and won his first stakes victory in 1999. He has since won many other stakes races. One of his biggest career wins was with Kelly’s Landing in the $2 million Dubai Golden Shaheen in 2007. Other stakes winners include Brushfire, Belle of Perintown, Saratoga Sinner, Custom for Carlos, Ballymore Lady, Victorianna, Vicki Vallencourt, and Catcominatcha to name a few. He is currently training Santiva, a 2011 Kentucky Derby contender.

Eddie’s honesty is one of the first things we noticed about him that set him apart from many of the other trainers. His work ethics and management skills are also exceptional. He knows his horses and loves his job. Ron Rashinski, owner of Bushfire and Custom for Carlos, said this, "There are a lot of good horsemen out there, but I really think Eddie's honesty and integrity in our dealings with him have been foremost in cementing our relationship with him. We're not horsemen, so we rely on outside people. When you trust people the way we do Eddie, you feel right about being in this business."

Having started in America with yearlings, Eddie is known for having an impeccable reputation for picking them at sales. Since he opened his public training stable he has continued to pick yearlings for his racing clients. One of his top picks, Bushfire, was a finalist for an Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old filly in 2006 after three grade 1 victories. Eddie picked this horse at the 2004 Fasig-Tipton Kentucky Yearling Sale for a client of his, acquiring her for a mere $37,000. He has also picked many other very successful yearlings for his clients since.

Eddie’s stats for 2010 were as follows: 55 wins out of 304 starts, thats 18% wins, 52% of his starters finished in the money, and his runners earned $2,521,772. That’s well above the average and places him in the top fifty trainers in North America.