Point-To-Point Weekly 14-12-2022

DerekO’Connor

Straight to thePoint Rising star O’Sullivan on fast tracktoprofessionalsuccess

ANYONEpaying attention to Irish jump racinglately will be well awarethat Michael O’Sullivan is one of the rising starsofthe sport.

LastSundayweek, Michael, whose roots arefirmly in the point-to-point world, rode abrilliantrace on Marine Nationale to recordhis firstGrade 1 wininthe RoyalBond Novice Hurdle,repayingthe faith of trainer BarryConnell,who hasbeen prepared to puthim up in Graded races in whichhis claim can’t be used

On Sunday, he pulledanother race outofthe firewhen getting Meetingofthewatersuponthe line to winatCork. This time it waspretty clear his 5lb claim made all the difference,and youwould imagine he’s goingtopickupsomechoice rides in valuable handicapsaslong as he hasthe allowance

Championship leader Jack Kennedy wasonthe second on the bigoccasionatFairyhouseand in Sunday’shandicaphurdle.That underlines howeffectivelyMichael hasmadethe transition from qualifiedrider status

He rode his firstwinnerasa claimingprofessionalonDangan DesChampsfor Robert Tynerat Sligoonlythree months ago.

TheO’Sullivans –thankstothe likes of Michael’sfather William,his uncle Eugene and his cousin Maxine –are afamily who have contributeda huge amounttoour sport.

Michaelfollowed in thetradition by riding34winners in points, almosthalf of them in the 2018/19 season when he wonthe under-21 title

After that he concentrated on his studies and graduatedwith an honours degree in agriculture, specialisinginanimalscience,from University CollegeDublin.

That’s agreat insurance policyfor ayoung rider to have,but rightnow he appears to have asecurefutureas aprofessionaljockey.

As we’veseenfromthe couple of rides I’ve highlighted, he’s avery good judgeofpaceand combines tactical awarenesswith the sort of confidence and self-belief you need to compete at the highestlevel.

He didn’t showany sign of panic when Marine Nationale,who was havingonly his second runover

hurdles,madeamistake at the last at Fairyhouse. At Cork, he took abrave route up the inside to winbyanose and ashort head on ahorse trained by Eugene

It’s greattosee successstories like this comingout of the point-to-point ranks,following apathtaken by outstandingriders such as Adrian Maguire, TimmyMurphy and Davy Russell.

Twenty years agoIsharedthe novice riders’ title with Mark Grant, andhewas followed into the professional ranks by the four riders who wonthe novice championship in the years 2004 to 2007, Andy McNamara, Andrew Lynch, JohnnyFarrellyand Jack Doyle.

Obviously, from the point of view of riders likemyself,Jamie Codd, and BarryO’Neill, who came on the scene abit later,therewould have beenalot morecompetition for

good ridesinpoint-to-points if anyof thoseladshad stayed amateur

Fortalentedyoung point-to-point riders fortunateenoughtobeable to do lightweights consistently, the ambition to trythe professional circuit will alwaysbethere.

More recently, the jointunder-21 champions of the 2017/18 season, Sean O’Keeffe and Shane Fitzgerald, wasted no time in establishinggood reputations on the track.

Jordan Gainforddidn’t stay long enough as an amateur to winany titles,but he’s another excellent young rider who developed his skills in point-to-points

There’sa sensethat racing’sgain is alosstothe point-to-pointscene Seeingnew ridersemergeisalways welcomedbypoint-to-point followers,and when they become professionals it leavesabit of agap Butthat’s the natural wayofthings

and it gives younger ridersmore opportunities to build aprofile

I’dliketosee more riders coming through and developingthe confidence which comes from gettingbetter mounts and riding winners

There’sbeena fair spread of winners amongthe riders this season, and although theremay not yetbeanobvious new star,I’m sure it won’t be toolongbeforeanother majortalentblossoms

Borris beats the weather

Theweather didn’t quiteknockus outofaction at the weekend. The Carlow meetingatBorrisHouse went ahead and greatcreditmustgotothe organisers for all their efforts and persistence.

Themeetingattracted agood crowd, and theygot their money’s worthwitha total of 99 horsestaking partona nine-race card

RobJamestook theridinghonours with four winners,includingboth divisions of the four-year-old geldings’maiden for Donnchadh Doyle.

Newcomer Welcom To Cartries,a sonofNoRisk At All, made areally bigimpression,while IorangiDe L’Isle,who wasrunningagood race when fallingfirst time outat LoughanmoreinOctober, also stamped himselfasa fine prospect

It wasa perfectend to the weekfor Donnchadh and his team after the sale of CorbeaghHouse runner-up RainbowTrail for €220,000 at the Tattersalls Cheltenham auction on Friday.

Sunday’sopenrace wasconfined to novice riders and wasa showdown betweentwo talentedformer track performers,Brain Powerand Hardline

TheWarrenEwing-trainedBrain Powerwas aclear-cut winner under Dara McGill, who haspickedupthe autumn novice rider title,a competition that hasgiven an added incentiveoverthe lastcouple of months

Brain Power, best knownfor winningthe American Grand National Hurdle at FarHills for Nicky Henderson and Nico de Boinville in 2019, hasreally come good again after afew reverses when first sent point-to-pointinglastseason. His long-termtargetisthe Aintree Foxhunters.

‘Michael,whose rootsare firmly in the point-topointworld, rode a brilliant race on Marine Nationalefor his firstGrade 1win in theRoyal Bond’

MichaelO’Sullivan impresses as he drives Marine NationalehometolandFairyhouse’s Grade 1Royal Bond Hurdle

PATRICK McCANN (RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS)

ConorCostello

MYFIRSTride of the season wasWhat’s Up Darling and he won impressivelyatQuakerstown.

It wasa special winasitwas inmymother Grainne’s colours.Hewas the firsthorse sinceFlorida Pearl to runin her colours and it wasareal family success. Sheowned him, my father John trained him,Irodehim and my brother Ronanrodehim out everyday

Ihad the intention of sitting inbut Ifelt that the pace of the race wasquite slow, so I decidedtogotothe frontand let him do his ownthing. He just putthe rest under pressure.

Iwentovertothe sale at Cheltenhamwith him and my dad. Therewas agood bitof interest,but goingintothe sales ring you don’t always knowwho will puttheir hands up.The trainers don’t tell you alot,soitcan be hard to know what to expect.

‘Whenitworks out,it’sall worthwhile –the challenge is to find thenextone’

He hadshown promiselast season butall of ourhorses were sickinthe spring.He wasn’tbackinworklongafter havingabreak when he ranin Dromahane

We actually ranthree fiveyear-olds in the space of a weekwhen he made his debut and all three of them have won since

Search ForGlorywon a bumper for Gordon Elliottat Fairyhouselastmonth,What’s Up Darlingwon his pointat Quakerstown (right)and I’d Like To Know haswon a maiden hurdle.So, although theywereall sickinthe spring, theyhaveall come outand wonagain since We’vehad some good luck at Quakerstown as Next Destination wontherefor us in 2016 and it’s atrack that alwaysproduces good horses –

the likes of Bacardys, ChampagneFever and Brewin’upastormhaveall won there.

It’s always very competitive racingand theresults have shownthe calibreofhorses that come out of it.It’sthat bit nicer too tohavea localwinner.

My cousins, uncles and auntswereall theretowatch –it wasareal family affair.Weare all into racing and Ihaveafew cousins who ride in point-to-points as well; it’sbeeninthe family for a longtime.

My grandfather wasa trainer and so is my father;my

uncles have acouple of pointto-pointerseachand twoof my uncles,Tom and Dermot, were champion point-to-point riders,sowealwaysgrewup around horses

Once we were old enough we were alwaysriding ponies and then Iwould have started show jumping. As we gota bit older we moved on to racehorses and race ridingis somethingIhad alwayswantedtodo.

We don’t have an awful lot of horses at home butit’s somethingIreally enjoyand I’mveryappreciative of the calibreofhorsesIamgetting to ride

We do mostofthe work at home ourselvesand we have a nice team of horses.Webuy a lotoffoals everyyear andthat is when we gotWhat’s Up Darling. We bought him off his breeder BillyManganasafoal.

We actually boughthis full brother Your DarlingfromBilly the same way. Hisfull brother would be common in what we do as we brokehim,started ridinghim,had him schooled and almostready to race beforewesold him unraced. He haswon four races and was impressive at Ascotlastmonth

We would primarily buy foals and yearlings and we try tobring them on; so some would be racedorothers sold beforetheywould runfor us.It would depend on the horse.

It’s noteasy, butfromthe time we’vebeenabletowalk we were alwaysgoingaway

with dad in the jeep tolookat foals searchingout for the next star

When youget to startthem off and then see them progress into good horses on thetrack, that’s what it’s all about.

Best Mate wasbeforemy time butwehavehad plenty of nice horses since.Wehad The Nice Guywhen he was younger and Iwas able to be at Cheltenham this year when he wonatthe festival, whichwas agreat experience,and my uncle Tony hadsold Stattler, who wonthe National Hunt Chase.

It’s alongroad, and not one for everyone,but when it worksout and you getagood horse, it makesitall worthwhile.The challenge nowistofindthe nextone

CONOR COSTELLOWAS TALKING TO EOGHAIN WARD

Bank on Borris Housetocometothe rescue

BORRIS HOUSEproved again aninvaluable resource for the point-to-pointcommunity when it survived the sub-zero temperaturesbroughtbythe cold snap.

Th el ow tem per at ur es claimed lastSunday’stwo other scheduledfixturesat Boulta and Tattersalls

No tf or the fir st time , however, the Carlowvenue overcame inclementweather to continue ra cin g, wi th Sunday’s meetingreminiscent of the 2017 fixture.

Then, heavy snowhad many doubtingwhether the meeting could takeplace,and Justin Flood andhis father Edward were the only bookmakers to venturetothe track.

Five yearslater andthe tem pe ra tu re sm ay ha ve matched that day, butthe Carlow Farmerscommittee were again rewarded for their efforts to ensurethe meeting went ahead,with covers placed on the ground around the five fences to preventfrost from takinghold.

Despite 99 runners takingto the track–byfar the biggest fixture of theseason so far –resultinginnine races being required,the action came to a closejustafter 2.30pm after an 11am start.

Thevolunteer committee and IHRB officials have to be given particularpraisefor the speed andefficiencywith

whichtheypowered through the races

Cancelled meetings quickly rescheduled

Thecommittees at Boultaand Tattersalls will have gained hope from the forecastof mildertemperaturesfor this comingSunday,the date for which their fixtureshavebeen rescheduled.

Original entries stand at both fixtures, with 161 entries for Tattersalls and 134 entries for Boulta,and they will begin at 11am, the time theyhad been scheduledtostartlastSunday.

Theroutine 48-hourinspection of the courses will be postponed by 24 hours to Saturday, with an advanced goingupdateprovided.

Adjustments to spring fixture schedule

Therelease of the complete provisionalsummaryfor the spring termofthe season, whic hg ets under wayat Dromahane on December 30, features aslightly earlier start to theprogramme of races within the four-year-old mares’ maiden division.

Although four-year-old maidenracesinthe new year traditionally begin on the openingweekend of February, races in the agedivision confined solely to mareshave until recently not featuredin the programme until March.

That hascrept forward steadily in recentseasons,and for 2023 this will be brought forward by afurther weekwith afour-year-oldmares’maiden addedtothe card at Kildorrery on SundayFebruary19.

Threeadditionalopenraces for horses who have notwon Gradedraces have alsobeen programmedfor the spring, whil eL in gst ow na nd

“Following feedbackfrom industrystakeholders,the extensiveprogrammefor spring four-yearold mareswill commence aweekearlier than hastraditionally been the case,” saidMartin O’Donnell, senior steward of the Irish

“Wehavealsonoted representationsregardingopen lightweights.Consequently, the number of opens which exclude Gradedracecourse winners hasbeenexpanded from twotofive.

“Startingonthe openingday of thespringseasonatthe DuhallowKanturk fixture on

December30, one race in this cat ego ry ha sa ls ob ee n programmedeachmonth from FebruarytoMay.”

Classy stores don’t have to

costsix figures

Th erec entQuaker st ow n fixture sawthe four-year-old maiden beingwon by the €115,000 storepurchaseIdeal DesBordes after he gotthe better of theevenpricier €200,000 Scandisk Park,a sibling to the record-breaking Hurricane Fly.

Both four-year-olds arefrom the upper spectrum of the store sale purchasestohavefeatured betweenthe flagsthis season and although theyfoughtout the finish in County Clare, on the same afternooninBallindenisk,the O’Donovanfamily wo na simi lar ra ce wi th ShanaghBob

The€10,000 value purchase from lastyear’s Tattersalls Ireland August sale by the former under-21 champion rider Chris O’Donovanwas proofofthe riches that could be achieved from pointing.

Havingproved to be asmart pr os pe ct wi th his de bu t success under O’Donovan, his va lue wa ss ig ni fi ca nt ly enhancedashewas sold for £200,000 at last Friday’s Tattersalls CheltenhamDecember sale,which sawnofewer than 11 horses with autumn point formselling for six-figuresums.

givesaninsight into hisfamily’s highly successful pointing business

Dromahane will each stagea race confinedtohandlerswho have trainedten winners or fewer

National Hunt Steeplechase Committee

AskThe Bishopand JohnBarry on theirway to victoryatBorrisHouseonSunday

HEAL YR AC ING

Riders

Welcom enjoys the perfect launch to his career

THE pu rp le pa tch be in g enjoyed by trainer Donnchadh Doyle helped the equally in-form jockey Rob James to a four-timer at the only point meeting to beat the weather over the weekend.

It was James’s second fourtimer this season after his feat at Lingstown a fortnight earlier when Doyle again provided half the quartet

And, just as at Lingstown, Doyle’s winners came in the fo ur-y ear-old ge ldin gs ’ maidens He will no doubt hope he can repeat the sales fervour which greeted the Lingstown successes when one winner fetched £380,000 days after the meeting and the other achieved a £180,000 price tag.

His Borris brace came in the divisions of the John Shark Hanlon four-year-old geldings’ maiden, Iorangi De L’Isle initiating the double when he ou tstaye d To m Ke at ing’s newcomer Doonbeg Don by five lengths

The €46,000 Land Rover sale purchase had offered promise before falling tw o ou t at Loughanmore in October and he made amends to advertise his wo rt h to pot en tia l purchasers.

“He had a good first run and was as green as grass,” Doyle said. “He’s a nice horse and it’s the sales next.”

His stablemate Welcom To Cartries, another French-bred, was even more impressive when justifying strong market support to make the perfect start to his career by winning division two by 16 lengths

The No Risk At All gelding cost connections €80,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby sale, but they look likely to reap the rewards of that investment after the bay left Gavin Cromwell’s Ideal Du Tabert trailing in his wake

“I’m mad about him; he’s very smart,” Doyle said of his eighth winner of the season.

Star performance

Welcom To Cartries crossed the line full of running having powered clear in the home straight and is a very exciting prospect

“He has the pedigree and does everything lovely. You would have to be mad about him. He’s a good horse.”

James had earlier landed the second division of the Jukebox Jury & Sean Moon at Burgage Stud four-year-old mares’ maiden with Miss Oreo, but the pair were fortunate to do so Jetaway To Getaway had crossed the line 12 lengths clear of her rivals only to be disqualified when her rider Darragh Higgins failed to weigh in.

James continued to benefit from the three -day whip suspension his chief rival Barry O’Neill was handed at Kirkistown last month

Altho ugh the six-time champion was at the Carlow venue on the final day of his suspension, he could only wa tch as his ma in ri va l deputised for him on the Colin Bowe-trained Clody Flyer in division one of the Tattersalls NH & Ballyhane Stud five-yearold geldings’ maiden.

It brought up his four-timer and closed the gap on O’Neill in the riders’ table to five, 20-15 Br end an Mu rph y’ s homebred son of Sholokhov had the misfortune of being brought to a standstill by a faller in the closing stages at Lingstown a fortnight earlier

There was no such bad luck on his fifth start as he overhauled the newcomer Grass’s Jet at the last fence to record a two and a half-length victory. He will now be offered for sale

Sean Doyle’s Monbeg Park could manage only third in the Grade 3 novice hurdle at Cork on the same afternoon, but he enjoyed better luck when his

Sanda Rena won the opening division of the four-year-old mares’ maiden on her debut.

The Getaway mare picked up best off a slow pace to supply Liam Gilligan with his first success of the season as the pair quickened two lengths clear of the locally trained Mighty Duchess.

Owned by the handler’s younger brother Gearoid, it was Doyle’s second success in the race having saddled the threetime track winner Outonpatrol to land the 2018 edition.

Brain Power joined a band of five horses with three wins this season when he beat 11 rivals in the Boomerang.ie open for novice riders with the minimum of fuss.

Th e Gr ade 1 wi nni ng 11-y ear-old ha d come a cropper at Turtulla three weeks earlier, but he made amends under his regular partner Dara McGill to beat CastletownGeoghegan winner Hardline by seven lengths.

“Dara McGill said it was only a piece of work for Brain Power; he never came off the bridle,” handler Warren Ewing said.

“He was very good. The better ground here suits him and he still has that big engine I got my hunter-chase licence for him, so Liverpool, or maybe Cheltenham will be the aim.”

Gray Rock ente re d the Walsh’s HomeValue Hardware & INHSC older maiden with as many second-place finishes as Brain Power had victories for the season.

However, he reaped the rewards of his consistency from a well-timed Luke Murphy ride to pick off Focus Point after the penultimate fence before going clear for a well-deserved fivelength victory for Ballydarragh handler Liam Kenny. The sixyear-old will now step into winners’ company.

Fellow Wexford trainer Robert Tector also saddled his opening winner of the season with Killybegs Jet Lady in the George Mullins Transport fiveyear-old mares’ maiden.

The Jack Hendrick-ridden Jet Away mare has improved her position with each outing since finishing fourth at Ballyknock on her de bu t, an d she completed that sequence by

Despite the wintry conditions, the Borris House fixture was able to provide some dramatic action and a platform for the four-year-olds to show what they can do (above); Welcom To Cartries and Rob James land a division of the four-year-old maiden (far right); Sanda Rena and Liam Gilligan on their way to victory in the four-year-old mares’ maiden (right)

easily dispa tchin g Stopherandgo by 18 lengths

Ask The Bishop was the biggest priced winner of the afternoon, when the 10-1 outsider of ten runners stepped up from three non-completions in his previous outings in the pointing fields to take division two of the five-yearold geldings’ maiden.

John Barry sent the Ask gelding to the front jumping the penultimate fence and the pair repelled the sustained challenge of Forest Breeze by two and a half lengths

Barry O’Neill: still holding the lead in the riders’ title race

de Triomphe-Gr.1

Chantilly-Gr.2

David Magnier, Albert Sherwood, David O’Sullivan, Andrew Magnier & Catherine Magnier: 025-33006. Robert McCarthy, Bobby McCarthy & Peter Kenneally: 058-56254. Tom Gaffney, Joe Hernon, Paddy Fleming, Cathal Murphy & Barry Kennedy: 025-31966.

Trainer Francis Graffard