Magee finds success despite initial reluctance to train

Trainer Kieron Magee was presented with a nice piece of crystal last Saturday at Laurel Park to recognize his leading the Maryland Jockey Club tracks in victories last year. He can put it on the mantel next to his 2014 award in the same category.

Magee, a 55-year-old native of Ireland, has been training since 2007 after working for many years as an exercise rider, primarily as a freelancer at Pimlico.

“I got on the ones nobody else wanted, and I have the pains to prove it,” Magee said. “It was just ‘show me the money.’ I had a lot of fun. Pimlico was always my place.”

All those years in the saddle eventually began to take their toll, and Magee realized that his galloping days would not last forever.

“After I broke my back for the second time, I could feel my heart coming to an end,” he said.

Owner Bo Williams repeatedly tried to convince Magee to begin training, but he resisted and held out as long as he could.

“I’d watched my father struggle as a trainer, and I didn’t want to do it,” Magee said. “Finally, my wife, Kelly, told me she didn’t want to be married to an exercise rider anymore and that maybe I should try it.”

Over Magee’s objections, Williams sent him a horse to train. Once that horse settled in, Williams sent him three more the next day, and Magee had changed professions.

“My wife and I do it all together,” he said.

Magee operates a blue-collar claiming stable at Pimlico that averages around 45 horses. He had his best season in 2015, winning 118 races – 65 at Laurel and Pimlico – and $2.1 million in purses. He is off to a 12-for-42 start this year.

“I have great owners,” Magee said. “They let me put the horses where I want. They have no fear.”