CRYSTALCLEAR
Crystal Island is outonhis own at Rathcannon to give sire Crystal Ocean yet another four-year-old victory Reports, pages 2-3 1,
REK O’CONNOR ER
‘I was surprised Nick Rockett wasasbig as 33-1, although Iexpect many punters thought he had abig task in meeting Intense Raffles on much worse terms than in the Bobbyjo’ Page 4
Epsom Derby winner from the MONTJEU sireline. Bred on the same cross as JUKEBOX JURY
TIP OF THE WINGS won a 4YO Maiden at Daramona House for Johnny Berry before selling to Gordon Elliott at the Aintree Sale for £95,000 (€110,000)
TWENTY-FOUR hoursafter
Honesty Policy–who had finished second at Castletown Geoghegan at the startofthe season –landedthe Grade 1 Me rs ey Novic es’Hurdl e, racegoers were back at the Westmeath venuescoutingout the nextexcitingprospect.
Myrighthandman could fit that bill after the Walk In The Park geldingcontinuedGary Murphy’s excellent season in the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale and Equine Transport four-year-old maiden.
Oneofthree who stretched clear approachingthe home straight in astrongly runrace, the half-brother to three-time Gradedwinner Westerner Lady sawchallenger GetOnEarly unseatatthe last,before holdingfellownewcomer
Patrimonio by alength
“He’stough and hardyand
Star performance Myrighthandman clockeda time 14 seconds faster than averageina winning debut
jumpsfor fun,”Murphy said of the BarryStone-ridden bay.
“Hemade one or twolittle mistakes from the front, buthe wasverygood at thelast.
“Hegot aflyer,which he ne ed ed .H eh as ag re at pedigreeand,beingbyWalk In ThePark, he’s agreat mover. He’ll be sold now.”
GetOnEarly’sconnections of DarraghHiggins and Mick Murphyhad to wait onlyhalf an ho ur be for eg ainin g compensation when Shining Marble puthis experience to good useinthe Goffs Punchesto wn Sa le fi ve -y ear-o ld geldings’maiden.
Afinal-fence faller at Borris
Ho us eam on th ag o, th e five-time racedson of Mahler took control approachingthe final fencetobeatWoodie Campelltown by twolengths “Hedid that fabulously,” Murphysaid. “The horses are healthyand runninggreat at the moment. He’salovely horsewho’s lovingthe better ground, so we maylookata winners’race for him.”
Fe llo wWexfor dr aide r PrincesseMilania openedher account at the fourth timeof askinginthe GalileoChrome mares’ maiden, bringingupa double for Stone and his 24th winner of the season
Re tu rnin gf ro mam idseason break,havingnot been in competitiveaction since a second at BorrisHouse in
DUHALLOW AT DROMAHANE SUNDAY
Murphy on themarkas racegoers hunt out future stars Fountain Househas Bishopscourt Cupinhis sights
THE IanMcCarthy-trained Fountain House hasbeena revelation this season. After victoryinlastmonth’s maiden hunter chaseatThurles he landedhis fifth victoryin points and is nowthree behind the season’stop performer, Winged Leader Hissuccesscame in the Pe gu sH ors eF ee ds an d Dairygoldopenafter which the handler said: “That will sethim up nicely for the Bishopscourt Cu patt he Pu nche st ow n festival and we’ll see about goingontoStratford after that.”
Ownedbyhis wife Nicki, the sonofLucky Speed took the eyeinmid-divisionasGarm Co lo mb ea nd He ro es Of Renown viedfor the lead. Eo in Ma hon eas ed the odds-on favourite into the lead three outbeforecomingclear on the run-in to beat Heroes Of
December, Robert Tector’s five-year-old took advantageof her prominentpositiontobeat fellowpacesetter Nicolas Fortune by four lengths Eighteen-year-old Kevin Healyhad his first taste of the Nationalfences at Aintree when seventhonhis grandfatherPat Whyte’sMilan Forth in theFoxhunters’.
Back on home turf,the Westmeath rider landeda popularlocal success when Bestaline bossed the Brosna Paints and MullingarAgriStore open for novice riders.
Repeatingthe tactics which were successful at Daramona Housetwo startsago,the French-bredsix-year-old had an eight-length lead by the openingfence,and it wasan
advantage shenever surrendered as that was her winning margin from the odds-on favourite PatCoyne at the finish.
“She came hereatthe startof the season and wasn’tbeaten far.She washit and misswitha fall and pullingup, butshe went to DaramonaHouse and putinasmart performance,” said owner-trainer Simon Cavanagh. “She likes small fields and is atough mare.”
TheEdgemount Farm Racing adjacentwinners’race has beenwon by Kildarehandler Peter Floodthree times in the lastfouryears,but he couldn’t make it four
Hisodds-on favourite What AFlirth came outthe wrong side of atight finishwith Mo ss to wn Mi ll aft er a
protractedbattle up the run-in whichsaw Ciaran Murphy’s five-year-old triumphbyaneck under Eoghan Finegan, his second winner of theseason.
“We’re thrilledwith him.We gave him arun for some experience for him to improvefrom,” Murphy said. “TonyGleeson, who owns him,islocal here and we felt we wanted to have a winner herethis year forhim
“The ground hereisin beautiful order,whichgaveus the opportunitytorun, and he lovedit.”
Flood hadthe compensation of winningthe Clarke’s Bar Mullingaroldergeldings’ maiden whenGeorgie Benson guidedseven-year-old ManOf TheHouse to aten-length defeatofMaison De Balzac
Star performance
BallycommonBoy overcame errors at thefinal twofences to triumph in the weekend’slargest field of four-year-old maidens
Renown by an eased-down three lengths with Cloudy Tuesdaya nose away in third. McCarthy andMahon had earlier landedthe Redweld Stables five- and six-year-old mares’ maidenwith Jennyfromtheblock
Thedaughter of Harzand, who wasa closesecond on her debutina 14-runner Ballycahane race lastmonth,was alwaystravellingwelland when the leader BuntyKearney unseatedRossSugrue before fiveout she looked the winner An excellentleapatthe
second-lastconfirmedthat impressionand shedrewclear to thwart the BarryO’Neillridden Miss Bumblebeeby three lengths
“She wasabit unlucky the last dayinBallycahane,”
Mc Ca rt hy sa id of Je nn yfromtheblock,owned by wife Nickibut in whomAdarebased breederMartin White still hasaninvolvement. “She’s abig, straightforward mare and will probably nowbesold.”
Joint-reigningchampion rider O’Neilland reigning championtrainer Colin Bowe, who supplies the majority of the jockey’swinners,had ea rl ie rl an de dt he Go ffs Punchestown four-year-old mares’ maidenwith exciting newcomer FairyPark (right).
TheWalk In TheParkmare, a chasingtype outofahalf-sister to Willie Mullins’five-time
Grade 1winner Bellshillfrom the samefamilyasOne Man, tracke dTime To Gi ve in second until picking up the runningthree then stormed cle before the last to beat Mahon on Cappa Lassby eightlengths
“S he ’s a lovely filly and Barrysaidthat she wasjusta bit green. Shewi nowgotoa sa Bo we sai d of the Grangeclare Stud-ow ned winner
Bowe and O’Neill went on to winthe Coolmorefive-yearold geldings’maidenwith debutant Unflinching
FollowMyOrder held a slender lead when fallingatthe se cond- la st whi ch le ft
Unflinchingdisputingthe lead with TheRebel County, butthe €95,000 Derbysalegraduate edged into anarrowlead e the last,then meclear to beat isex-track rival bytwo and a half lengths in theMilestone Bl ood sto ck Ltdsilks. Adam Feeney ontinuedhis h vein of form his se ve nt h winner of the season in the Tattersalls Cheltenham Ap ri lS ale fo ur-y ear-old geldings’maiden on theTom Keating-owned-and-trained newcomer Ballycommon Boy, ason of Harzand from a German distaff family.
Theeye wasalwaysdrawn to Ballycommon Boyonce he
movedcloser inside thefinal half mile and he hit the front three out. Despite making errors at the final twofences, he quickenedclear to beat the O’Neill-ridden and Bowetrainedfavourite IrishAvatar by twoand ahalflengths It wasKeating’sfirstfouryear-old winner of the season and he said: “He’salwaysdone everythingnicely and Ithink he’ll wina bumper.”
Luke Burke-Ottbroughthis pointstally to four by teaming up with Louis Archdeacon to takethe Rathbarry &Glenview Studsadjacent maiden on the mare RedNight Sky Theex-trackperformer hit the fronttwo outand came cl ea rt ob eats tablemat e DuhallowJurybyeight lengths It wasapopular winner as she is ownedbyKevinMurphy, aclerkofscales at this fixture.
Myrighthandman (far side)continuesGaryMurphy’s fine form inthe four-year-olddivision with an impressive debut victory
COUNTY LIMERICK AT RATHCANNON SUNDAY
Gowitdflow turnsontaps forCurling
SAMCURLING andDavid Doyle were in blisteringform as theywon three of the day’s six races
Theduo openedwithvictory from Gowitdflow (below)in the Paul LeonardConstruction and Manister HouseStudfouryear-old mares’ maiden
Facingjusttwo rivals,the PolicyMaker-sired baymoved into ashare of the lead at the second-last from whereshe was able to kickontobeatfellow first-timerGalactic Princess by three and ahalf lengths.
“She’s alovely filly. She finishedupbehind the Ka msin ho Arcadian Empero who wo ni n Lisronagh, in a schoolingrace,” said Curling, who plans to send her to the sales.
Nineteen-year old Do yle w sporting thecolours of Cheltenham Festival-winning owner John O’Learywhen doublinghis tally on Kazansky in the Lo rd Ha rr in gt on Memorial and CrecoraMills five-year-old geldings’maiden.
Star performance
Debutant CrystalIsland wasafifth four-year-old maiden winner of theyear forsireCrystal Ocean
outaplaced finisher at Castletown Geogheganthe same day, he movedontothe sixwinner mark with thevictoryof Crystal Island in the Goffs Spring Sale four-year-old geldings’maiden.
Boughtfor €60,000 at last year’s Goffs Arkle sale,the Crystal Ocean geldingjustified ma rk et su pp or tb y ucingaburst of eed approaching hefinal fence a nd ,d es pi te sho wi ng greenness after the last,hehad three andahalf engths to spare ver fellowfirstm er Ki lnew Supreme.
NEWRYATTAYLORSTOWN SATURDAY
DRYING ground resulted in just 29 runnerstakingtothe track, butthat won’t have botheredBarry O’Neill, who wonhalf the day’sprizes.
Hishat-trick, whichhelped him open agap of nine on Rob James,withwhom he shared last season’sriders’ title, began with Lady Doyanne,trained by O’Neill’sbossColin Bowe,inthe SevenStars mares’ maiden
Thefive-year-old took abig stepforward from herJanuary debutatCragmorewhereshe waspulledup, and looked afar morecompetitiveproposition on her second outing.
Travelling strongly into contention at the end of the bac ks tr ai gh t, th eJ ohn Dawson-owned Doyenmare openeduponthe climbtothe line to beatthe moreexperienced CrossOfRedmoor by nine lengths
“She wonveryeasily,”O’Neill said.“Shemadea bad mistake the last dayand theground was pretty bad so we weren’thardon her as she lovesniceground.”
RegularallyDavid Christie supplied the region’s five-time champion with the other two legs of his hat-trick, with the one-time leadinghunter-chaser Vaucelet (right) returningtothe winner’s enclosurefor thefirst time in morethantwo years in the Boyd Stores open.
O’Neillwidensleadon Jameswithhat-trick
Star performance
On acardwith five of the sixraces wonbyalength or less Lady Doyanne did well to winbynine lengths
De nie db ya he ad at Lisronagha fortnightago,the Milangelding handledthe quickerconditions well as the €68,000 DerbySalepurchase puthis experience to good use to beat newcomerManners Matter by alength
“Hewas just touched off the last day,”Curlingsaid. “He’sa lovely, bighorse whowe thoughta lot of lastyear but took abit of time to develop That wasa nice performance and he’ll go to the salesnow.”
TheCurling-trained Tantivy Vavoom gave Tipperaryrider Doylehis firsttreblewhen sharingthe verdictinthe Mo un tC oote St ud and Dunraven Arms five- and sixyear-old mares’ maiden with John Paul Brennan’s Western Clouds,who turnedout aweek after finishingfifth at Oldcastle
“The ground the lastday was abit toosoft for her butshe came forward for the runand she wasgood today,”Brennan said of Western Clouds
“Weboughther in Doncaster as an unbrokenfour-year-old last Mayand she’s agrand filly. She’sfor sale now.”
Eamonn Doyle’s noteworthy debutseason as ahandler continues apace. Havingsent
“He’sa lovely,big horseand CrystalOceanlooks to be a lovely sire,”Doyle said. “He wasverygreen from the back of the lasttothe finish and there’sgoingtobeloads of improvementinhim.He’sfor sale now.”
PandoraBriselden moved into ashare of the lead in the fem al er iders’t it le ra ce alongside champion Maxine O’Sullivan whenpartnering her fourthwinnerofthe season on MagicSadler inthe Maurice PowerSolicitorswinners-oftwofor noviceriders
With her regular mountI Ma sk ed Du Po tier be in g readiedfor ahunter chaseat CorkonEasterMonday,itwas his PatDoyle-trained stablematewho delivered in beating aback-to-formSampoet by a length and ahalf
“Hebelongs to lovely owners, Patand Mary Brogan,who drovethe whole waydownfrom Boyle,CountyRoscommon, thismorning,”Doyle said.
“He’sgetting better and stronger.We’ll seewhat his owners saynow with regardsto wherewegonextwith him.”
Dungarvanhandler Anthony Murphyproduced Black Soul to landthe ConackConstruction oldermaiden as the former Flat handicapperstepped up from his thirdatKnockanohill to beat Tippin And Tappin by twoand ahalf lengths under Michael Kenneally.
Th et en- ye ar -ol dh ad finishe ds ec ond in the Champion Hunter Chaseat Punchestown in 2022 and 2023, however, for much of the lasttwo seasons he hasfailedto scale thoseheights.
Returningfromafive-month break,hekeptongamelytobeat ChampagneCourt by ahead.
“He’shad atremendous career,withsometough battles at the top level,”Christie said. “He’sjustnot the samehorse he used to be,but we decided to give him abreak and bring him backwhen the ground was good. Th er e’sp le nt yo f improvementleftinhim after todaybecause Ithink that’s the wayhelikes to be trained.”
Stablemate King In The Park hadtobattleequally gamely to double his career tally in the Lynda Hughes Memorialwinner-of-one
TheFarmacaffleymaiden winner haddisappointedat Kirkistown amonth agobut he bouncedbacktobeatLisronagh scorer Passing Diamond by a shortheadafter ading-dong tussle on the runtothe line.
Pa rk Ta lk ha dp rov ed himself with second place on quickground at Tinahely in the autumn and that ensured the prevailing conditions heldno fearsasheopened hisaccount at the fourth timeofaskingin the Derrylecka BeddingCentre five-year-old geldings’maiden.
It wasonlyafter the final fence that Sean Doyle’s charge wasable to overhaul the leader CloghanCastletowin by a length under JamieScallan.
“Inhis last tworunshewas
sec ond bo th times and probablyunlucky not to win, so cominghere, we thoughthe’d winall right,”Scallan said. Doyle’s youngerbrother Cormacsaddled hisfifth winner of the season when Freshers Week made asuccessful debut in theDennison Commercials four-year-old maiden.
Disappointingly,the €30,000 DerbySalepurchasefacedjust three rivals forhis debut, and havingjumped the final fence
upsides long-time leader Mahler Park,the line came in time for DarraghHiggins’ mount, as the fast-finishing SonOfTyran hadclosed to within aneck.
“H ew as v e gr ee nc omin here; we were afraid he might be toogreen,” Higgins said. “I satinand took al ea da nd , after the thirdlast,hewas full o runningsoI let stride away from there.
He hasplentyofgearsand galloped the whole waytothe line.Ittookmeintothe next
field to gethim pulledup.” Willie Murphysurpassed his tallyfromlastseason when GrattanStreet wasafifth winner of the season for the Carlow handler in the l ip Mc Ca be uantitySurveyor lder geldings’ maiden. Under patient tact ics fr om PatrickGleeson, the six-year-old truck the front forethe secondand hadenough of an advantagetofend off the late effort of the favourite MayorKingston by half a length.
Colt from the first crop of ‘King George’ and Coronation Cup winner PYLEDRIVER ex Heavy Hitter owned by John Halley
CrystalOcean geldingFreshersWeekfights off SonOfTyran to landthe four-year-old maiden
DerekO’Connor Straight to thePoint
Fine advert:formerIrish pointers fill sevenoffirst nine National places
THEREwas a50-50 probability this year’s RandoxGrand National winner would come from an Irish point-to-point background.
As it turnedout,the influence was dominant. Sevenofthe firstnine startedtheir careersinour branch of thesport,the exceptions being runner-up IAmMaximus,who made agallant bid to repeat lastyear’s win, and fourth-placedIroko
Imentioned last weekthat Nick Rockett wasthe typeofhorsethe modern-dayNational could suit. I wassurprised he wasasbig as 33-1, although Iexpectmanypunters thoughthehad abig task in meeting TomGibney’srunner IntenseRaffles on much worseterms than in the BobbyjoatFairyhouse.
With thirdplace takenbythe former Denis Murphy-trained Grangeclare West,the finish was dominated by three of thetop four in the handicap,and Nick Rockettisthe highest-ratedwinnerofthe race in modern times PatrickMullinsbecame the second amateur to winthe race duringmy time as arider,following SamWaleyCohen on Noble Yeatsthree years ago. We have asmall claim to countingPatrick as ‘one of ourown’, since he rode Neon Wolf to winfor Mags Mullins at Ballyraggetin2016. He hadone of his rare point-to-point rides on his mother Jackie’s Cause ForComment, trainedbySonny Carey, at Punchestown in February.
Nick Rockett’spoint-to-point background is that PatDoyle saddled him to winfirsttime outat CurraghmoreinOctober 2021.
Pathas enjoyedmanygreat days with his graduates butlastSaturday must rank as the best of all, since he wasalsoresponsible for producing Honesty Policy, winner of the Grade 1TurnersMerseyNovices’Hurdle Patboughtthe Jukebox Jury gelding for€35,000 at the DerbySalein2023, afigurebelowthe averageand median for the sale.Hewas introducedatCastletown Geoghegan lastOctober when he lost outtothe Colin Bowe-trainedBonapartes Retreat.
Since finishingrunner-up on his racecoursedebutatNaasatthe beginningofJanuary,hehas made greatprogressinashort time and should make alovely novice chaser
Jukebox Jury,bestknown as the sireoftop-classjumperIlEtait Tempsand Group1Flatwinner PrincessZoe,isdoingwellwith his point-to-pointrunnersthis season. He hassired 12 winners,putting him in joint-seventhplace behind Nick Rockett’ssireWalk In ThePark, who looksset to be arunaway winner of this season’spoint-topointsires’championship.Heleads Getawayby38to22.
Walk In TheParkisalso
‘Pat
Doyle hasenjoyed many great days with his graduatesbut last Saturday must rank as thebestofall’
responsible for last month’s Cheltenham Gold Cupwinner Inothewayurthinkin and Jonbon, who bouncedbackfromhis Champion Chasedefeattoadd to his fabulous Grade 1recordlastweek. I’mproud to have hadagreat spin on him at the startofhis career with Ellmarie Holden.
maiden at Dromahane for Colin Bowe
Nick Rockett’spedigreeisone that all followers of point-to-point breedingwill easily relate to,since he’s outofamarebyFlemensfirth, the champion point-to-pointsire three times (2015, 2018, and 2020).
Walk In ThePark’simpact on the point-to-pointscene wasevidentat the weekend. He wasresponsible for twowinners at the Taylorstown meetingonSaturday, the Sean Doyle-trained Park Talk and David Christie’s King Of The Park,who was addingtoa Farmcaffleywin
In the four-yearold division, his son Myrighthandman continueda brilliantrun of formfor trainer Gary Murphybywinning at CastletownGeoghegan, and his daughterFairyParkwon the mares’
He’s also the dam sire of Noble Yeats (byYeats)and FinalDemand (by Walk In ThePark),aGrade 1-winningnovicehurdler for Willie Mullins this season.
Gracchus De Balmeflies the flag in Foxhunters’
TheIrish hunters were outofluckin the Foxhunters’ at Aintree. Pat Doyle’s Lifetime Ambition did best, cominghome strongly under Rob James to takethirdbehind Gracchus De Balmeand JetPlane.
Thewinner and the second started inpoints here. IrodeGracchus De Balme to wina maiden at Lisronagh for Kieran Purcell as afour-year-old. He wonamaiden hurdle and a beginners’chase for Joseph O’Brien
beforebeingboughtlastsummerby Hannah Roach,assistanttoCheshire trainer JoeO’Shea Hannah trainedanother ex-Irish point-to-pointer Time Leader last season. He did her proudinfinishing thirdinthe Festival Hunters’Chase at Cheltenham and fourth to ItsOn TheLine in the AintreeFoxhunters’ . Unfortunately, Hannah brokeher backinanaccidentonthe gallops last autumn, and her promising horse Iskandor Pecos hadasetback after winningthree of his fivestarts in hunter chases.GracchusDe Balme’s winwas agood-news story JetPlane rantwice in points for CormacFarrell and joinedDan Skelton after finishingsecond in a maiden at Kirkistown.He’swon a maiden hurdle,fivehandicap chases, and ahunterchase
Gordon Elliott’sWillitgohead startedfavourite afterhis fine third behind Wonderwall and ItsOnThe Line at Cheltenham.Hewas outpacedand will be better when he tackles three miles or further again.
EDWARD WHITAKER (RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS)
National pride: Nick Rockett(right),leads homeI Am Maximusand GrangeclareWestatAintree
Grade 1 Aintree Bowl…
GAELIC WARRIOR notched up his fourth Grade 1 success for Willie Mullins and Mrs Susannah Ricci
Sire of more Graded winners at the Cheltenham Festival than any other active sire in GB & Ire bar WALK IN THE PARK and YEATS!
GRADE 3 GRAND NATIONAL…
NICK ROCKETT, bred by Kieran Cotter, triumphed for Willie Mullins and Stewart & Sadie Andrew
MAXIOS walk in the park
Grade 1 Melling Chase…
JONBON made it ten Grade 1 successes for Nicky Henderson and J.P. McManus
The first stallion since Cottage in 1948 to sire the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National winners in the same year
Grade 2 Mares’ Bumper…
SEO LINN, bred by Glashare House Stud, scored for Paddy Twomey and owners Mrs A Phelan & Mrs Bridget Beckett