Point to Point

the heart of RACING

With words by Richard Pugh

the heart of irish horse racing

Racing photographer supremo Pat ‘Cash’ Healy is known to many in the horse-racing world. His father, Liam senior, began the family horse-racing photography business in the 1970s, and today Pat Healy and the other members of the HEALY RACING team, including his sister Cathy, his brother Liam, his nephews Kevin and Sean, and his son, Jack, are all involved in the business. From following trainers, horses, owners and jockeys, HEALY RACING has captured thousands of precious moments in the great sport of horse racing, many of which can be viewed on their website: healyracing.ie HEALY RACING has also published two other photographic books celebrating jump and flat horse racing: Thrills and Spills and Flat Out.

Richard Pugh rode as an amateur rider in the mid-1990s and enjoyed a career highlight in the 1995 Ladies Cup at the Punchestown Festival. He has been commentating at point-to-points and on the racecourse since 1997. In 2003 he set up Irish Point to Point Services Ltd, with its website p2p.ie, providing services to the industry, such as results, reports, ratings and photographs. Richard is also closely involved with the sale of point-to-point horses, being a director of Tattersalls Ireland, and his wife, Jennifer, is the Senior Medical Officer of the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board (IHRB) and was Lady Champion point-to-point rider in 2009.

POINTto POINT

the heart of irish horse racing

HEALY RACING

With words by Richard Pugh

First published in 2022 by The O’Brien Press Ltd, 12 Terenure Road East, Rathgar, Dublin 6, D06 HD27, Ireland.

Tel: +353 1 4923333; Fax: +353 1 4922777

E-mail: books@obrien.ie Website: obrien.ie

The O’Brien Press is a member of Publishing Ireland. ISBN: 978-1-78849-344-4

Copyright for photographs © Healy Racing

Copyright for text © Richard Pugh

The moral rights of the authors have been asserted Copyright for typesetting, layout, design © The O’Brien Press Ltd.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or in any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Healy Racing would like it noted that any horses and riders shown falling in the following photographs were fine after their spills. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 25 24 23 22

Cover and internal design by Emma Byrne.

Layout and design: The O’Brien Press Ltd.

Printed and bound in Poland by Bialostockie Zaklady Graficzne S.A. This book is produced using pulp from managed forests.

Cover photographs: HEALY RACING. Front cover: Racing at Tyrella, which is hosted by the East Down Hunt, with the scenic Slieve Donard and Mourne Mountains in the background. This race was won by Clondaw Frisby under Mark O’Hare for Gerry Cosgrave (second place – pink colours navy sleeves). Back cover, clockwise from top left: The very first image captured by Pat Healy from Askeaton, County Limerick, in 1979; A close-up image and unusual angle of the 2018 action from Farmacaffley; Action from County Waterford’s Tallow as horses splash through the overflowing River Bride, which burst its banks nearby; A horse stands patiently before racing at Oldcastle, County Meath, as connections enjoy the on-course catering in 2003.

Page 1: Silhouetted action at Borris House point-to-point, County Carlow, 2020.

Page 3: Isaacstown Lad under Jamie Codd for owner/handler Virginia Considine is chased in vain by Mattie’s Passion over the last at Lisronagh, County Tipperary, 2012.

CONTENTS

NOTE FROM RICHARD PUGH

POINT-TO-POINT

This is the first photo ever taken by Pat Healy and is from the 1979 Stonehall fixture at Askeaton, County Limerick. In this maiden race for four- and five-year-old horses, Lattins Boy won under Pat Doyle and is in the blue colours at the back of the shot. Runner-up Royal Richard under Niall Madden is in the red colours with white cross belts. The hooped colours of PP Hogan to the fore are Peter Greenall aboard Alton (unplaced). Greenall is now Lord Daresbury who is well known in racing circles. His son Ollie and his brothers Jake, Toby and Tom all have racing interests. Lesley Ann under Leo Hayes were also in this contest and that horse went on to win the 1981 Sun Alliance Chase at Cheltenham.

NOTE FROM RICHARD PUGH

Following the successful Thrills and Spills and Flat Out, this book completes a trilogy of images released in book form by Pat Healy. I was delighted to be asked by Pat to contribute to this project when he approached me at The Galway Races back in July 2021. I have known the Healy family for over thirty years and almost every meaningful racing memory I have is captured by one of the Healy family and are treasured images in our household and indeed so many others up and down the country.

This book contains a little more text than its predecessors as we have tried to outline the story of pointto-point racing and where it fits in the overall horse-racing sector. We begin with the first photograph Pat ever took back in 1979 and while we reference some events before this date, the majority of this book is dedicated to the events and images which have stood out from that day to this.

I have been fortunate to enjoy countless days at point-to-points over the years and thoroughly enjoyed collaborating on this project and bringing each photograph to life. My thanks to everyone I contacted to research the images who added to the story of each shot for the reader. We hope this book will be of interest to the most enthusiastic point-to-point racegoer and those who have not yet sampled a day at a meeting between the flags.

First winners, last winners, notable landmarks, records, young horses and riders setting out on their careers, special visits and so much more are all well and truly recorded forever in the Healy Racing library, and dipping into that treasure trove of images was a pleasure I thoroughly enjoyed throughout this endeavour. RP

In 1975 Liam Healy, accompanied by his great friend Patrick Walsh, left Listowel in County Kerry and headed over the border to County Limerick to attend a point-to-point in the Fedamore parish. It was to be the start of a lifelong love of ‘Pointing’. Liam went on to build the business of HEALY RACING photography, not only recording point-to-points but also amassing a vast library of images of every Irish racing moment – from first winners, great races and action shots to iconic, unusual incidents. Today, Liam’s sons, nephew and grandsons continue to cover the point-to-point world, with the ever-loyal help of Liam’s great friend Patrick. Liam loved the people and the pointing community dearly and of course he loved the action images. He would have been proud of this publication – as are all the team at HEALY RACING. We hope you enjoy this publication. PH

The connection between hunting, point-to-point racing and national hunt (NH) racing on the track remains and here the Scarteen pack are on parade at the local Tipperary Racecourse meeting in 2016.

A flag is raised to assist the starter bring the horses into order before being dropped to signify that the race is ‘off’. This image is taken from the Golden Vale point-to-point at Glenbane, County Tipperary, in October 2012. This is the third division of the four-year-old maiden which was won by Sail By The Sea (far right in orange) under Jamie Codd for Denis Murphy.

Point-to-Points are steeplechasing races that many see as the heart or grassroots of horse racing in Ireland. These races, the majority of which take place on pop-up courses, are run by individual hunt committees and overseen by the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee (INHSC). The point-to-point tracks are often farmlands for fifty-one weeks of a year, and are transformed by dedicated volunteers from hunt committees into temporary racetracks for race day. For many people point-to-pointing is their first introduction to racing – either as participants or as spectators.

Go Philosophical and Richie Harding round the final bale at Dungarvan, County Waterford, in 2012 before going on to finish sixth in the five-year-old geldings race – a wonderful close-up shot capturing the speed and the accuracy required from horse and rider. The sport is often nicknamed ‘between the flags’ as riders must keep red flags on their right and white flags on their left.

Few courses can match Bellharbour in County Clare for scenery. A terrific meeting run on the first Sunday of February each year by the County Clare hunt on land owned by Dermot and Jennifer Linnane, it is held on the Burren overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.

Left: Whilst entries for point-to-points are made each Tuesday, the declaration to run is made only one hour before the start of each race. Conveying this information to the public is an important part of the committee’s role and few do it better than the North Down committee who post runners and riders clearly along with results from earlier races. This shot is taken at their Kirkistown venue. Riders with not more than twenty winners are allowed a 5lb weight allowance and these are written in red for the public’s information. Below: Racegoers taking down the declared runners for the next race from the numbers board at Ballinaboola, County Wexford, in 2013.

Above: The local and social aspect of the sport is attractive to many. At Tinahely, County Wicklow, in 2016 enjoying the day are (left to right) Ivor Kearney, Jay Bowe, James Mernagh, Nicky Doyle, Brian Redmond, Johnjo Keane, James Nolan, Jim Mernagh and John Brennan.

Left: Young racegoers enjoying the freedom of a day at a point-to-point at Castletown-Geoghegan, County Westmeath, in 2013. Lily Walsh (left) (daughter of rider Benny) and Ailbhe Motherway (daughter of former rider and now handler Colin).

The Cahalans’ farm in Ballingarry near Roscrea in County Tipperary was, for many years, the final meeting of the season and saw many title races decided. Racing in the foreground with the cattle in the background shows the connection of point-to-point racing to farming. This 2012 four-year-old maiden was won by No. 19 (orange colours) Balnagon Boy for handler Tom Gibney under Graham Watters.

Above: A large crowd assembles at the parade ring at Aghabullogue in County Cork to view the runners before the Open Lightweight in 2012. Oscar Delta under Damian Murphy is the foremost in shot and finished fourth to Footy Facts under Derek O’Connor. Oscar Delta is being led up by Jane Mangan, who rode him at Cheltenham the following year, where they were cruelly unseated on the run-in with the 2013 Cheltenham Foxhunters within grasp.

Opposite: Hunters and hounds at Largy point-to-point, County Antrim.

WHERE POINT-TO-POINT BEGAN

The term steeplechasing is recognised worldwide. It can refer to leading horse races such as the Grand National and Cheltenham Gold Cup, or indeed it can be used when referring to the Summer Olympics discipline, which was first introduced to the games in 1900. The term has its origins in Irish horse-racing history.

The first recorded steeplechase, or point-to-point, was held in 1752 between Buttevant and Doneraile in County Cork. Edmund Blake and Cornelius O’Callaghan took part in a match race over the course of approximately four miles. The start ‘point’ was the church steeple at Buttevant and the finish ‘point’ was the church steeple at Doneraile, thus leading to the term point-to-point steeplechasing. Both steeples were high and clearly visible and made ideal start and end points to the race. Over time flags were introduced to guide participants along various routes, and many refer to the sport as racing ‘Between the Flags’.

Whilst 1752 saw the emergence of steeplechasing, the sport effectively went in two directions. On one side, it aligned with the long-established and well-regulated flat racing. On the other side, the hunting connection saw the emergence of point-to-point horse racing.

Initially a pursuit for hunting horses, such steeplechases were held at the end of a hunting season or alongside a hunt. The connection to hunting remains to this day.