Mu ll ins ma kes a big impact on fi rst points ride

EIGH T days aft er Ch arlie

Mu llin s gu idedAnnami x to wh at see me d anunlikely victoryina hunterchase at the Fairyhouse Easter Festival,the Ki lkenn y ri der ha d his first su cces s inthe po intin g fie ld s acrossthe road fromthe racecourse at Tattersalls

Giventhelegupon Come To Me by the11-year-old’s ownertrainer Trac ey Gilmourin the DeesideAgri Servicesopenfor novic e ri de rs , it wa sa fi rst ap pe arancein points fo r Mu llinsandhe ma dean immedia te impact Com e To Me jumped thelastinfrontand held off the effor tsof Step Up Sonand Down The Highwayto win by aneck.

“Trace y toldmehestays all da y andto ma ke it a tes t,” Mu llins sa id. “I knewwhen I was headed at the second-last he wo uld find plenty for me comingupthe straight. He was alw ay s holdin g onandhe showed great battling abilityin that drivingfinishforme.”

Be rt ie Fi nn ha s re ceiv ed ple nt y of su ppor t fr om Colin Bowe th is se asonandthe 19-year-old Oulartrider repaid that faith by riding his second fo ur-y ear-old ma iden wi nner thismonth for thechampion ha ndl e r inthe Ta tt ersallsNH four-year-old mares’ maiden.

Star performance

Tareze is a white- faced Kayf Tara fill y who gamel y fought of f two potent iall y smar t rivals andonce st ri ki ng the fr on t early inthehomestraight she alwayslooked thelikely winner astheycrossed thelinealength and a ha lfclearofthe we llbackedfavourite Sharp Object.

“We were expectingabig run because she has beenshowing usplenty at home,” Finn said.

“S hequic ke ne d upsmartly for meandshe’s done it we ll. She would be upthere with our nicest ma re s at themi nu tein thefour-year-olddivision.”

Fi nncouldnotadd to his fo ur su cces se s thi s se asonin th e Ga lileo Ch ro me five-yearold ge ldings’ ma idenas Ho w And Ever came out second best to TossOfACoin

Li am Ke nny’s Fl emensfirth wi nner wa s ap pe arin g for the fo urthtimein ju st ov er a monthand a we ek aft er fin is hin ga clos e thir d at Cu rrag hmore, bu t he re lishe d thequic k tu rnar ou nd wi th a decisivenine-length successin the ha ndsofthe Go re y handler ’s son James.

Like Toss OfACoin, Colline Fleur ie isno w likelyto be off ered for s ale after steppi ng upfromher eyecatching debut at Li sc ar ro llto landth e Countr y Fresh fiv e-y ear-oldand-u pw ards ma re s’ ma id en for Sam Curling.

Sporting the silks of Cor rena Bowe,a member ofthe team at Cu rlin g’s Sk eh an ag h st ab les whole d up Chelten ha m Fe st ival wi nnerAngel s Dawn , the Hi llstar ma re wa s thr ee lengthsto o good for an improved Lucky Venture.

“Shebatt le d it ou t we lland that wasa good performance,” riderBrianLawlesssaid.

“I always knewI wasgoing to wi n by the wa y shetr av elle d underme. Sam hasheringreat formandshe won going away.”

Mo ir a Mc El li go tt ensur ed she re ma ine d wi thi n one winnerof Maxine O’Sullivanin the racefortheladies’championshipthankstothe14-length victor y of Po ur Me A Do uble forher husband Willie Murphy in the Sean Gallagher Lougher Stables winner-of-one.

Fu rt he r su cce ss in wi nn ers’ com pan y wi llno w be so ugh t for the se ve n- ye ar-old,whil e Da vid Christi e wi llals o no w tar ge t the wi nner s’ di vi sion with Sifaka after thegrey won the Coll ege Proteinsolder geldings’ maiden.

Narrowlydenied at Oldcastle a we ek ag o, th e Presentin g ge ldi ng sw if tly ma deamend s wi th a one-and-a-half-length victoryunderAlex Harvey

In anunprecede nt ed tu rn ofevents , theloomin g deadlineofFridaymidnight’s endtoinsuranceco ve r ha s mean t thelos s of Su nd ay ’s Bree Fox ho unds me etin g at Monksgrange

But the North Kerr y fixture at Trale e (a re placement for their Ap ri l 15 fix tu re, ca ncelle d for anunrelate d re ason ), and Me at h& Ta ra’s meetin g at Fa iryhous e ra cecours e ha ve be en save d by bringin g them for wa rd 48 hourstoFridayafternoon.

Th e Ki lleady Su nda y meeti ng at Dromahaneis unaffectedand goesahead.

Fi xt uresin No rt hern Irelandandonthe Cork and Wa ter fo rd ci rc ui t ar e not affected by insurance issues, asthere are separate policies co ve ri ng thos e re gions , so Sa tu rd ay ’s Fe rm an ag h meeting at Necarnealso goes aheadasplanned.

Th is wee ke nd ’s fix tu re hiatus hasarisen because the cur re nt insuranc e po lic y expires at midnightonFriday.

In su ra ncepr oblem s fir st hit po in t- to -p ointin g last se asonwhen fix tu re s we re ca ncelle d whileinsurance co ve r wa s so urce d toco ve r the spor t andthe hunt clubs which stagethefixtures.

Ho pe s we re ra is ed th at a National Hunt Steeplechase, Po in t- to- Po in t and Fi eld Sports InsuranceProgramme (NHSPFS) wo uldpr ov ide so mecertaintyto all ow the sp or t– estim at ed by a 2017 Deloitte report to contribute £34milliontothe Ir ish ec onom y– tobe g in re co verin g after cons ec uti ve tu mu ltuous se asons , firs tly ca us ed by tw o Co vidinterru ptionsand fol lo wed by insurancedifficulties.

Althoughthe sp or t is go ve rn ed by th e Irish National Hunt SteepleChase Comm it te e (INHS C) , eac h po in t- to -p oin t fix tu re is sta ged by differ en t hunt clubs,anditisunderthe hunt committees’insurance policy that thepoint-to-pointfalls. Ne go tiation s, which have continue d to se cur e fut ur e insurancecove r for mostof thecountry’s hunt clubs, have not bee n complete d intime forthis weekend.

Discussionsarecontinuing totr y to sec ur e insurance cover, butitisunderstoodup tofivemorefixturescould be hit by the endofthe season.

Long-term solution must be found

This secondinsuranceinterru ptionto po int- to -p ointin g inthelast18monthsisa stark warningforall,not just inthis sp or t bu t the wi derIrish ra cin g se ctor, th at a sec ur e long-ter m so lutionis required

The Deloitte report gave an indicationofhow significant the spor t had becomeandit ha s gr ow n fur thersi nc e. Within six yearsofthe publicationofthe report the value of public salesincreased from £14mto£34m last season.

Po in t- to- po intin g in Irelandisno w far to o importanttothe wider sector to have continued insurance uncertainty ha ng in g ov erit , andthepressur e to fin da solution cannotfall solelyon theshoulders ofthe hunting or ga nis at ionsandtheir representatives.

Th islates t hia tu s mu st se rv e as a ca ll for all wi thi n the sporttocometogetherto us e theircombine d brainpower andnegotiating ability to gainlong-term security.

We sa w durin g Co vid-19 ho w we ll differ en t st ak eholders wi thinthe sp or t coales ce d tolobb y thos e in power atnat ionalle vel for a re sump tionof ra cin g. A si milarcollectiv e effor t is required onthis mattertoo.