BRENT GODDE: How does it feel to turn 80?

KEVIN HANLEY: To be honest, it's not much different to when I turned 70. I'm still getting around all right and at the end of the day, age is just a number.

BG: Did you do anything special to mark the milestone?

KH: There were about 15 of us who went to the Springdale Heights Tavern for tea and a few beers.

BG: What motivates you to keep on training?

KH: I just like remaining active and I've got no doubt it helps to keep me alive. I've only got a small team of four horses that I train at the moment and that's enough to fill in the day. I still get a buzz out of watching a horse that goes around with my name as trainer.

BG: Would you like to train more horses or is four an ideal number?

KH: Four is about right, if I had any more I would have to get somebody else to give me a hand.

BG: You lost your right hand man and son, Tim, two years ago when he joined the Tony McEvoy stables in South Australia at Angaston?

KH: Once Tim left I decided to scale back a bit because he had been with me since he had left school. But he loves it over in Adelaide and is doing well for himself. He is always ringing me with tips from the stable but he is a better stablehand then tipster.

BG: I'm guessing it's not a chore to train and you genuinely love being around the horses each day?

KH: You do get attached to the horses and they have always been a big part of my life.

BG: What does a typical day involve for you?

KH: I live 30km outside of Albury on a property near Mullengandra. I still get up at 5am every morning and arrive at my stables on Racecourse Road by around 7am. Usually there is track work most mornings and then I just poke around the stables to about 4pm.

BG: It's no secret you didn't mind a lick back in your day. Do you still enjoy a beer?

KH: During the week I have one a night and then I might have a couple on Saturday. Usually when I finish at the stables I head home and feed up the ten horses that I have at home. I've also got the chooks, the cat and the dog to feed. After that I grab a stubbie and a bite to eat myself.

BG: You have had a couple of weeks off alcohol altogether recently?

KH: I had a couple of skin cancers cut off my back and was on antibiotics. I would have been as silly as a wheel if I had had a few beers while on antibiotics.

BG: What is your secret to being as fit as you are at your age?

KH: I've worked all my life I suppose. I was a furniture removalist which is pretty hard yakka and you are always walking around and keeping busy.

BG: How long have you been a trainer for?

KH: I started off with Shaughan Fox down in Melbourne. Then I relocated to Albury about 40-years ago and I got involved with Alan Cunningham initially. Then I moved into stables on Racecourse Road and have probably had my trainers licence for 30 plus years.

BG: What do you consider some of your career highlights?

KH: Winning races in Melbourne and Sydney with the mare which I bred in Dry Shagny.

BG: Dry Shagny won at massive odds of 50/1 at Warwick Farm in 2005?

KH: We were confident she could run a big race and paid for the flights so jockey Stephen Baster could fly from Melbourne to ride her.

BG: Dry Shagny has also proven to be a handy broodmare for you?

KH: I do get a big thrill when I see her progeny win. Magic Shag was her first son and he won five races. But he was plagued with leg problems then wind problems and unfortunately had to retire early.

BG: Magic Merv is showing some ability for you?

KH: Magic Merv ran third in Victoria last year and then had a tendon injury which sidelined him for 12 months. He then came back mid-year and won at Wagga and then seemed to go off the boil a bit. I had a few tests done and found out he had a liver complaint. So he is having a bit of a freshen-up but will hopefully win a few more races when I get him right.

BG: You seem to have an uncanny knack of always winning a race over the Albury Gold Cup carnival each year?

KH: We had a huge result the year Cosmic Fury won over the carnival at 25/1 in 2012. The boys wanted to run him in the cup but I said we were better off trying to win a race then running midfield in the cup.

BG: Cosmic Fury was a handy performer for you?

KH: He won a Cowra Cup, a Gundagai Cup and won nine races for the stable.

BG: A bold frontrunner, Cosmic Fury tragically broke down in the Cootamundra Cup?

KH: It was heartbreaking to see for all involved. Cosmic Fury was probably my all-time favourite horse that I trained because he was just a real trier and such a gutsy horse.

BG: Jockey Simon Miller told you to get rid of Cosmic Fury before he first raced?

KH: Simon was of the opinion the horse was no good but fortunately I didn't listen to him.

BG: Speaking of jockeys, you don't mind letting them know when they produce a bad ride?

KH: Sometimes I might give them a spray but you are better off to bite your tongue because they don't seem to listen anyway.

BG: Who are some of you favourite jockeys locally?

KH: I probably had the most success with Bradley Vale and Simon Miller. Amanda Masters was my apprentice for a while and is a bit underrated in my opinion.

BG: How much longer can you see yourself training for?

KH: I have no intention of retiring and as long as I can keep getting around on my own two feet, I intend to keep training. There's not much future in pushing up daisies and I would much prefer to be training horses.