The 'Python' To Strike One Last Time?

In a conversation this week with Trot Insider, Kendal Python's trainer, Jeff Lilley, stated that his 14-year-old Topnotcher gelding won't be able to reach 500 career starts, but there is one last thing that he wants his old horse to be able to do before he calls it a career.

Although his best years are definitely behind him, Kendal Python will enter retirement at the end of '08 with credentials which will allow him to hold his head high. Having raced the large majority of his 491-race career in the Maritimes, Kendal Python has banked just $62,598, but a slate reading 60 wins, 55 second-place finishes and 57 thirds looks good no matter which way one stares at it.

His 491 career starts also rank Kendal Python 17th on the all-time list of horses in terms of on-track longevity. Fellow maritime-based campaigners Jersey Buddy (foaled in 1976) and Staceys Echo (foaled in 1984) head the list with 621 and 603 starts, respectively. Amazingly, the top 10 horses on the all-time North American list all were owned or raced in Canada's Maritime region.

"I claimed him out of the bottom class at Summerside Raceway in 1998 when he was four," Lilley told Trot Insider. "He's a smart horse, one which gets smarter every day. Recently, when we've gone out to race, he just doesn't want to give me his best effort. When I hook him up with other drivers, Marc Campbell, for instance, they can get a lot out of him."

Lilley is convinced that, under the right conditions, Kendal Python will be able to put on quite a show one last time. Over the years, Monticello Raceway in New York State has been known for trying to assemble the Au Revoir Pace, a final send off for soon-to-be equine pensioners. Lilley is convinced that if the race is a go, the 'Python' will be a lethal opponent once again.

"He has just so used to the same old routine. Since January of 2007 he has raced at the same two tracks -- Summerside Raceway and the Charlottetown Driving Park. It's old hat to him and he doesn't have much motivation to get out there and show what he's all about. I figure if the Au Revoir Pace is a go, and he performs at Monticello, he will show everyone that he still has the fire in him."

Lilley explained to Trot Insider that the combination of a little bit of work and the different surroundings at Monticello Raceway, Kendall Python will put the squeeze on his competition once again. Lilley said that there is a possibility that the connections of the biggest name going in harness racing, Somebeachsomewhere, may be Kendal Python's ticket to Monticello.

"I was speaking with Brent MacGrath (Somebeachsomewhere's trainer) not too long ago and we got talking about Kendal Python. When I told him about the idea, Brent expressed some interest in Kendal Python going to Monticello for the Au Revoir Pace. He said that, perhaps, Somebeachsomewhere would sponsor myself and Kendal Python to get down there."

Lilley proved in the not-so-distant past that, under the proper conditions, the Python can get up for a hunt. If there is any doubt about Kendal Python's ability to awake from a slumber and go for the throat, one needs only to refer to December 31, 2006 -- New Year's Eve at Rideau Carlton Raceway. With an anticipated match-race with Conrad Seelster straightening into the homestretch for the final time, Lilley and his cherished charge bolted for the wire with a mad flurry and just fell short. The race got people in the harness racing abuzz -- for multiple reasons -- but also brought some genuine notoriety to Kendal Python.

No matter how far you go, and no matter how many people you poll, nobody is a bigger fan of Kendal Python than Lilley himself -- a horseman that is trying to provide the Python with one last hurrah before he hangs up his harness for good.

Nobody enjoys talking Kendal Python more than Lilley. If you want proof, give him a call, but make sure to leave a message after the beep. "You've reached [Lilley's phone number], home of Kendal Python…"