DerekO’Connor Straight to thePoint Rambler’sNat ionalsuc cess a greatresultfor theg rassroots

TWO GrandNational winnersinsix years, costinganaggregate £77,000, both sourced fromIrish point-topoints.Whatamassiveachievement onthe partofLucinda Russelland Peter Scudamore, andagreat advertisementforthegrassrootsof the sport.

OneForArthur,the2017 Aintree hero, cost£60,000 at Brightwells Cheltenham salein December2013 afterhe wonamaidenatLingstown onhisfifth outing, ridden by Barr y O’Neillfor Liam Kenny.

Corach Rambler,a back-to-back winnerofthe UltimaChase at Cheltenhamonhis waytoSaturday’s brilliantwin, hasturnedoutto be a seriousbargain,pickedupthe Goffs UK Septembersalein2020for just £17,000. By coincidence,italsotook himfivestartsto wina maiden, scoringatMonksgrangeforJohn Walsh,ridden by Sean Staples.

Fourof Saturday’sfirstfivestarted offin point-to-points,theexception beingtheFrench-bred thirdGaillard Du Mesnil.Sam Curling (Vanillier), Donie Hassett(lastyear ’s winner Noble Yeats),and Aidan Fitzgerald (The BigDog) canbeproudoftheir formercharges.

Sligo-born DerekFox ,who has ridden Russell’s twoNational winners, hadashort spellin points as ateenager,partneringthree winnersbeforeturningprofessional. He’s builtanamazingrelationship with CorachRambler,aboardforall his13 racesunder rules,winning sevenofthem.

Overthethree days at Aintree formerIrish point-to-pointerstooka bigshare oftheheadlines.I’ve seldom seenamajormeetingat whichtheinfluence wassostrong.

Onedetailatthe beginning of Saturday’scardprovideda good examplewhen Jonbon wonthe Grade 1Maghull Novices’Chase and West Balboatookapremier handicap hurdleforthe Skeltons40 minuteslater.

Iknewthat West Balboa,who finishedsecond to StageStarin last season’sChallow Hurdleand won theLanzarote Handicap Hurdle at KemptoninJanuary, wasan ex-pointer,but Igot abitof asurprise when Icheckedwhereshe had started. Theanswer? Shewas second in afour-year-old mares’ maiden at Dromahanein November2020, ridden by Harley Dunnefor Aidan Fitzgerald.

So what, youmight ask? Well, half an hourlaterI rode Jonbonto win thefour-year-oldgeldings’ maiden onthesame card.Rollonto April 2022andtheretheywereagain, thistimeonthebigstage, racingoneaftertheother.

Asit happens,wewereracingat Dromahaneon Sundayandthe coincidence mademe wonderwhat liesin store forthe youngsterswho wontheopeningtwo races.

On the dayafterhisformermount wontheGrand National, Sean Staples rodethe PaulPierce-trained newcomer BellasBridge toland themares’maiden. The daughterof Telescope battledwell, andit was agood sign to see the firsttwo finish well clearofthe Colin Bowe-trained favourite Ireckonwesaw a lovelyprospect inthe geldings’maiden.

FortunateMan,thefirst legofa doublefor handler Mick Goffand jockeyMikey Sweeney,impressed in beatingGhost Hunter,awell-fancied runnerfrom the Declan Queallystable.

FortunateManis by SoldierOf Fortune outofanunracedAzamour mare, Lady Azamour,whosemain pointofinterestisthat she’sasister to Jenkins,who wonsix racesfor NickyHendersonand wassecondin aGoffsLand RoverBumper.

Lady Azamourisalsoahalf-sister to CanalEnd, aPeter Fahey-trained five-year-old by Walk In ThePark, wholooked promisingwhen winning amaiden hurdleinthe JP McManus colours at Fairyhouse’srecentEaster meeting.

Mentionof NickyHenderson bringsus backtoAintree where Jonbon washisthirdGrade 1winner ofthe week. At this stagethere’snot muchto add abouthim,or Constitution Hilland Shishkin,all three amongthe best horsesto have come outofIrishpoint-to-points duringmycareer, withConstitution Hill potentiallythe outstanding productsincethree-time Gold Cup winner Best Mate.

Friday’scardbroughtanother threeGrade 1winsforhorseswho startedoffin points.Iwasimpressed by theformerColin Bowe-trained Lingstownwinner Gerri Colombe, who madeupforhis Cheltenham defeatand hasthe makings ofa seriousGold Cupcandidatefor Gordon Elliottnextyear Inthepocket, fourthinthe Supreme Novices’, wonthe2mGrade 1for Henr ydeBromhead. By Constitution Hill’s sireBlueBresil,he wonatMoig Southduringthe2021 autumn campaign for Paul Cashman.

LUCINDARUSSELL’S

Arctic CosmosmareApple Away producedatough stayingperformance to winthe Sefton Novices’ Hurdle.She wasbredbyTerence Leonard,who saddledherto wina maiden atBallyknockayearago

She’sout of amarewho wononly oneofher12 startsin pointsand was pulleduponheronly racecourse start. Pedigree isn’talways everything. She’sanattractivemare whocould make thegrade at thetop level overfencesintime.

Bill Baxter,who wonthe Topham for WarrenGreatrex ,could be a Nationalhorse fornextyear.He’sone of Denis Murphy’sgraduatesand was secondin astrongmaiden at Moira duringthe2020 autumn campaign, finishingtenlengthsinfrontof Banbridge,who waswithColin McKeeverthenand wasa Grade1 winnerfor Joseph O’Brienin Aintree’sManifesto Novices’Chase Dysart Enos,boughtbyFergal O’Brien at the Goffs Aintreesale12 months agoafterfinishingsecond at Ballyraggetfor Harley Dunne,wasa fittingwinneroftheGrade 2mares’ bumper.

Therewasnot much luck forthe Irish runnersinthe Foxhunters’,with theexceptionofthe Denis MurphytrainedLough Derg Spirit,who rana blindertofinishthirdunder Jack Hendrick.

Now, with Cheltenham, Fairyhouseand Aintreebehindus, we have Punchestown to look for ward to,alwaysagreat meetingto mark theendofthe season. Withanyluck, we’ll see plentyof ex-pointersamong the winners. The resultsfrom Aintreehaveset avery high standard.