From a Dub to a Derby

From a Dub to a Derby

Lar Kinsella from County Dublin is an avid GAA fan and a passionate greyhound trainer. He has battled and recovered from serious injury due to a major car accident and trained a Classic Race Winner live on RTE!

Born and bred in a quiet little town in North County Dublin, Rolestown has been home for Lar for 71 years now. He won many Championship titles from the tender age of 12 for Fingal Ravens including the Junior Championship in 1969, which led him to play for the Dublin Junior team. In school, his team was the first to win the Dublin Vocational Trophy when he was 16 years of age. When describing his favourite player, Lar compares his idol to himself; “Barney Rock was my favourite player and who, like me, was a free taker and an all-round brilliantly talented footballer”.

Lar has never missed a Dublin All–Ireland match since his Father introduced him to his first final in 1963 against Galway. His most memorable moment however was the final in 1983; “It was the 18^th of September, the day after my birthday, and Dublin beat Galway by 2 points in Croke Park. I was there to see this, and it was magic”. Lar thinks the game has changed over the years. “It is more professional now, with much fitter and stronger players. The game years ago was more kick passing, nowadays there is too much hand passing and the game is not as attractive to watch”. 

As he takes a sup from his cup of tea, the fire is burning and ‘At The Races’ is on the TV in the background. I asked Lar about how he got into greyhounds and his face lights up like a Christmas tree. His Father is the reason he got into dogs. Lar bought his first pup in Tipperary when he was three months old and went on to win a number of top races. His name was Lispopple Hero and Lar reminisced about the days when his dog won and his Father would bring the dog to the local pub and give him a packet of crisps and pour some Guinness into an ash tray for his efforts while he lay under the table, much to the amusement of the locals. His passion for greyhounds excelled after his success with his first dog and over the next number of years he trained a few dogs but didn’t win anything major. His Father, also called Lar, only had one or two in training but was a very kind and patient man with animals. 

Lar is a mechanical engineer by trade and while working, his garage won the soccer Castrol Trophy in 1965, he was skilful in plenty of sports. After this Lar met his future wife and my mam, Ann and they now celebrate 48 years of marriage. They then went on to have five children. Lar always had a love for farming which he picked up from his Father; “My Father was brilliant with all animals, cattle and in particular with greyhounds” he continued. “I inherited the family farm in 1993 and this enabled me to expand my greyhound empire, as now I had land to not only rear cattle but to walk and gallop the dogs”.

Only three years later, Lar’s life took a turn for the worst after a terrible car accident which left him with both arms paralysed due to crushed nerves in his neck. After several frustrating months of physiotherapy and no real progress, Lar devised his own rehabilitation plan. He asked his wife Ann to tie two leads to both wrists and he would walk the greyhounds through the fields for hours.

After about three weeks of doing this he began to get the power back in his arms when he felt a tingle. “When I explained this to the doctors in Beaumont, they could not believe I got the power back so quickly as they were not sure it would ever come back and they would not have recommended me to do such a thing if they knew what I was doing”. This is another reason why Lar has such a passion for greyhounds as they essentially brought him back to life when he was at his lowest. You can see the affection ignite in his eyes when he talks about his beloved animals and in 1998, he took out his professional training license.

Life was great for Lar and in 2002 he had his first major success when Brewers Turn won the Kilkenny Langton House Derby with a prize of €12,000. This was a special win as Lar bred, trained and owned Brewers Turn himself. This win brought Lar and his training kennels to the attention of many owners and at one point he had thirty greyhounds in training. His admiration for Brewers Turn was evident as he explained that after he retired from racing, he was kept on as a retired racer in his kennels for a number of years and when he later passed away, he buried him under the rose bush next to his Mother, Bray Breeze.

This was not Lar’s only success. In 2009, Accordello won the €35,000 Ladbrokes 600 in Shelbourne Park and was interviewed afterwards live on RTE by Marty Morrissey and this was the pinnacle moment of his career. Lar and his family partied for many weeks after that win! The Ladbrokes 600, now known as the Shelbourne Open, is one of the major classic features on the greyhound schedule and to win this prestigious event was very special for Lar. “Accordello is now retired, 12 years of age and still lives with us as an important part of our family”. Accordello won over €60,000 in prize money for his owner Rodney Harper and was a great servant.

Times have changed however, and Lar only has a handful of greyhounds now. He thinks the industry has evolved over the years and it has become a very expensive sport and due to the recession, a lot of owners have left the sport which in turn means he has fewer dogs to train. 

“Greyhound racing has now become very competitive and harder to win. The Irish Greyhound Board who operate the greyhound racing do a great job, but more money needs to be put into this sport to attract more owners back into the game”. Lar himself, however, will always have dogs and he hopes his son Martin and daughter Sarah will carry on the family tradition.

With a huge love for sport, Lar has dreams like any other man; “I’m a big horse racing enthusiast and have been to Cheltenham many times and Aintree where the Grand National is run. My dream would be to go to Royal Ascot, maybe someday. I am also a follower of the Ward Union Hunt which hunts in north county Dublin and east Meath every Friday”. You can tell from listening to Lar that he lives life to the full and as he said himself, he enjoys everything that he does. He is a family man and his idol in life was his Father. It was he who taught him everything he knows, from his good humour to his training techniques. He is very grateful for what he has. Let’s hope Lar has many more successes over the coming years.