Point-To-Point Weekly 23/11/2022

NH SIRES

DerekO’Connor

Straight to thePoint

TheJukebox Manhitsright notes as maiden winnersshowpromise

LASTweekend produceda goodcropofmaiden winners.The four-year-old geldings’race at Turtulla struck me as the strongest maiden I’ve ridden in since the start of the campaign,and theEllen Doyle-trainedwinner TheJukebox Manisdefinitely aname to note

Beforethe race,therewas plenty of chat aboutseveral of therunners.

Mattie O’Connor Flynn’sFull Metal Jacketcame with agood home reputation and astrongpedigree.

He’s by Shantou outofthe Willie Mullins-trainedAdrianaDes Mottes, aGrade 1winnerinthe novice mares’ championship race at Fairyhouse.

PatDoyle hadafanciedrunner by CoastalPath, Mark O’Hare’s Cleatus Poolawwas awell-supported second-favourite,and Irodea nice horsefor Ellmarie Holden, who had the benefit of aprevious run.

When you seeseveral well-known handlers fancyingtheir chance with anewcomer you canassumeit’sa fairlydeepmaiden, and it certainly rode likeone

It wasrun at agood pace setby Brian Lawlessonthe favourite,Full Metal Jacket. Lastseason’schampion novice rider Brian Dunleavy wason TheJukebox Man, whotookcontrol after the third-lasttoscorebysix lengths from CleatusPoolaw, who drew well clear of the remainder

Thereweretwo mares’ maidens at Turtulla.The four-year-old race was wonintough,front-runningstyle by HeyDay Baby,who jumped exceptionally well and gota welljudged ride from Eoin Mahon.

She’sa daughterofSoldier Of Fortune,and is trainedbymybrother Paurickfor John Duggan, who had such greatsuccess with former champion point-to-pointer LonghouseMusic.Heisalsothe breeder of LonghousePoet, last season’sThyestes winner and Grand National sixth,who startedhis career with apoint-to-pointwin.

IrodeAnnie Ktowin the five-year old mares’ maiden.She was producedingreat shapebyGearoid O’Loughlin to givehis yard afirst successofthe season. By coincidence,she wasappearingon the same dayasher full-brother LeckyWatsonwas runningfor Willie Mullins in abumperat Punchestown

Thankfully, it wasall straightforward for Annie K. There wasnodrama at all, whereas Lecky

Watson wasfirstpastthe post but wasdemoted to second for causing interference to Jamie Codd’s mount Cato Capone

Theamendedresultmeant a winning bumper debutfor Gordon Elliott’srunner, whowas the onlyother finisher in amaiden at Ballynoe wonby EncantoBruno, trainedbyColin Motherwaythenand now ratedapotential Grade 1bumperhorse by BarryConnell after his wins at Killarneyinthe summer and in aGrade 2 contestatCheltenhamlastmonth

Theweekend action startedat Kirkistown on Saturdaywith afouryear-old maiden wonbyThe Hero Next Door for PatTurley

TheJet Away geldingwas building on his firstoutingatLoughanmore and made agood impressionin making alltowin under Declan Lavery to beat Kerryhill,anewcomer trainedbyColin McKeever for Wilson Dennison.

Whenaparticular maiden is won by abig-name horseithelps to put the spotlightonavenue,and interested parties will often be lookingtosee if atrend is in the making.

On Saturday,people were thinking backto12months agowhen this

maiden waswon by Hermes Allen, a Dennison youngster trainedbyhis daughter Carolin McCaldin

Just like TheHeroNextDoor,he washavinghis second runand won easily. That dayIrodeahorse for Colin McKeever who finisheda distantthirdand hassince wonon the track. Irememberbeing one of the many people impressed by the winner,who fetched£350,000 in the sales ring the following month.

Hermes Allen is nowapotential starofthe novice hurdlingseason. He wonamaiden hurdle by abig margin and came through his first serioustestwhen beating the Gordon Elliott-trainedMusic Drive in aGrade 2event at Cheltenham a couple of weeks ago.

TheHeroNextDoorhas alot to liveuptobythat standard, butI imagine he and Kerryhillwilldotheir bit to add to the reputation of this Kirkistown maiden.

Remember, too, that the wellregarded Broughshane wonatthis tracklastFebruarybeforehis £150,000 purchase to join Jonjo O’Neill. We’ll have to wait for another daytosee what he candosince he ranout at an early stageonhis hurdlingdebutatAscot lastweek.

Saturday’sfixture wasagood one for the localhandlers.After Pat Turley gotthe ballrolling, therewere wins for KarenMcNeilly, Stuart Crawford, David Christie, and Graham McKeever,beforeClaire O’Connellstruckfor the visitors from the south with aWesterner gelding alsocalledO’Connell.

Iteamedupwith Graham McKeever for asecond winofthe season on JanuaryJets. Nowan eight-year-old, I’ve knownthis horse sincewinningamaiden at Ballysteen forPat Doylein2019. Henryde Bromhead wonoverhurdles and fences with him,and Ilikewhat I’ve seenofhim this season.

He wasboughtwiththe Aintree Foxhunter very much in mind and hasasimilar profile to Graham’s top hunter chaser of afew yearsago, Balnaslow, who gave me twogreat spins over the Grand National fences as well as winningthe Champion Hunter ChaseatPunchestown

He’s by the same sire, Presenting, and hasthe same sort of likingfor good ground in the springtime.He’s qualifiedfor Aintreenow,soit’sa case of so far,sogood

‘OnSaturday, peoplewere thinking back to 12 months ago when this maiden was wonby Hermes Allen’

TheJukebox Manimpressedinthe strongly runfour-year-old geldings’raceatTurtulla

HEALYRACING

PaulO’Neill reveals howhejuggles bookmakingwith beingthe Clare Hunt secretary

IAM the point-to-point secretaryfor the County ClareHuntand we stage fixturesatBellharbour and Quakerstown

It’s allhands on deck for us at the momentasweare runninganadditionalfixture at Quakerstown on Sunday week, and the date became available to us only recently.

We hadinitially appliedto runafixture in theautumn, butthat wasn’t successful.

When Mainstown hadto cancel their fixture andthe date became available we put in arequesttorun the event and we were successful.

Luckily, we hadtold the landowner we were applying for an autumn date andhehad kept cattle off the land.

We haddone alot of work on the trackafter ourEaster Sundayfixture in thehopewe would getanautumn date, and we’rehopingitwill be well supportednow Point-to-pointingisan importantpartofensuringthe sustainability of huntsbecause theyare agood fundraiser

‘You arenow looking at acasewhere there areonlytwo betting racesonany day’

when done right, and the huntswouldn’t survivepaying the insurance costs theyhave at the momentwithout them

I’mracingmostweekends and Isee howimportantitisto supportfixturesasmyfamily hasa pitchinthe bettingring.

My father Patrickbecame a registered bookmaker in 1963 and we arekeepingitgoing.

My brothersMikeand Conor lookafterthe track, while another brother Derryand I coverthe point-to-points Mike’s sonHugh alsostands at point-to-points and we cover twopoint-to-pointsaweekend.

Some days we could be at the same fixture, but mostly we spread outand covertwo

differentones on aday

We travel around agood bit, distance is never an issue. Travellinghas been second nature growingup– w were almost broughtupin acar on the waytothe races

Therehas been ahuge transformation duringthe time we have beena both on the racecourseand in point-to points.Unfortunately, numbers aredown, and when numbers aredownbetting

Samcro’s dominance reignitesacesdebate

SAMCRO continues to takethe open division to anew level with his thirdsuccessivewidemargin victory, alevel of dominance never seen before Hissupremacyisbound to reignite the debate surrounding former top-leveltrack horses returningquicklytopointing.

While Samcro’s dominance continues,there canbeno doub tw ea re wi tne ssing somethingquite extraordinary from Gordon Elliott’sgelding, whoseten wins under rules wonformer owner Giggins town Hous eStu da lmo st £350,000 prize-money, only marginally morethanhecostat Goffs AintreesaleinApril 2016

That salecame fivedaysafter amodestone-length winon Samcro’sdebutfor Colin Bowe in aMonksgrange maiden. The horsehebeatwas Gordon Elliott-trainedElegant Escape, who wassold laterthat month for €150,000 to Colin Tizzard for whom he haswon the thick end of £370,000. Some race!

After markinghis return to the pointingfieldswith a 35-length victoryatTinahelyin October,healmost doubledthat at DammaHouse in winningby 65 lengths three weeks later.

Unsurprisingly, just three rivals opposed the ten-year-old

Tinahely’sFairwoodParkand again dominated from the front with a35-length victory.

When the depth of the race is considered it adds further meaningtothe performance

Therunner-up Lough Derg Spirit hadwon aTinahelyopen by 16 lengths,with Shawshank 58½ lengths backinthird havingwon aDromahane open by ten lengths lastseason without comingoff thebridle

Thelatestvictoryfor Samcro hasbroughthis cumulative winningdistance this season to 132 lengths in three outings.

Sunday’sother open lightweight wasalsowon by awide margin, albeitindifferent circumstances,when Some Are Lucky wasleftclear by the fall of Brain Power, leavinghim to winby24lengths at Turtulla.

This wasa12th successofhis points career and reflects the longevityofthe 11-year-old, wholandedhis firstopenat ThePigeons four years ago.

Given the typical ageprofile of addit ions to the op en division, few stalwarts stay in winningformoverfouryears.

He is nowthree wins shortof joining an exclusivelistof23 horseswho have won15or moretimes in points

Thelasttodoitwas his record-breakingstablemate

LonghouseMusic, so it would be agreat feat by Tipperary handler SamCurling.

Boulta comes of age

On SundayBoulta celebrates its21st anniversary. Abig, gallopingtrack setacross66 acres,Boulta offers areal test with just over twoand-a-half la ps of the co urs et ob e completedonthe land of Gerard and BredaMulcahy’s popularschoolinggrounds.

Th es ch oolingground s openedin1993and the grass gallop covers four tracks,with twopoint-to-pointcourses and twoschoolinghurdle tracks whichhavedevelopedintoa keyfacility for localhandlers

Cahalan becomesthe Laytown supremo Jessica Cahalanissuretoput into practicethe experience she hasgainedstagingthe two-dayBallingarrypoint-to pointasthe Ormond Hunt secretary becomes secretary managerofLaytown Cahalanisfamedfor buying Gordon Lord Byronasa foal for €2,000beforehebecame a globetrottingstar forCahalan’s father,Morgan, amassing£1.9 million in prize-money.

Sheisa popular appointment for allinpoint-to-pointcircles

turnoverisalsodown.

beenthe dog showand pony rides,and we will have both of them on December4,and we will alsohaveanovelty event of ahound derby, which will be the firstinIreland, Ibelieve. Thehuntsman will bring eightorten hounds and they will race around the trackfor the day. It is somethingthat wasdone at the races in Plumpton and we arecallingit the County ClareFoxhounds Grand National.

Ourattitude is to try somethingnew and if it doesn’t work,what aboutit, just move on and try somethingdifferent.

now lookin where bett th fo m t o Th the ry sm The num

Some fixturesare better than others,but really youare nowlookingata case the onlytwo ting races on eday arethe our-year-old maiden and, to amuch lesserextent, the five-year old maiden he turnover in other races is mall. Thenumberof bookmakers is alsoreducing year-on-year.Itwould be exceptional to have ten bookmakers at apoint-to

pointnow,someofthem would have only four or five, and it is apitytosee that We have hadgreat times and met lots of people through point-to-points over the years Some days youwould be askingifitwas worthit, but you’restill not going to give it up,you’restill goingtogo; we will be theretothe bitter end.

Ourpoint-to-point committeeare bigbelievers in puttingona daytoencourage people to go racing, and although this time it is a shorter turnaround for us from getting the go-ahead to the day of therace, this will be no different.

Ourmainattractions have

Everythingwetry won’t alwayswork, butitis all about tryingtohaveentertainment on the daytoget people racing. It will be something differenttolookforward to.

Youneed adedicated committeetobeable to pull it off,and we arelucky to have that. Then,onthe dayitself, you need up to 70 or 80 people to do it right, whichisalot of people to roll up on aSunday to avoluntaryevent all to ensurethe hunt is viable

We have beenuptothe track three times alreadyand we will be thereagain on Saturdayto make sure we have everything inplace to ensure it is aday for everyone to look forward to

Eoghain Ward

PAUL O’NEILL WASTALKING TO EOGHAIN WARD

January Jets rubs in frustrating day for Elliott’s quartet of seconds

GORDON ELLIOTT saddled a four-timer at Punchestown on Saturday but will have been frustrated with the same after noon’s results from Kirkistown where his stable had to settle for just as many second places

That included the feature James Murdoch Contracts open in which Hardline, a Grade 1 winner in the 2018 Matchbook Exchange Novice Chase, found January Jets two and a half lengths too good.

The ex-Henry de Bromheadtrained Presenting gelding had impressed on his first outing for Graham McKeever at Lough brickland three weeks earlier.

Derek O’Connor was again in the plate as the Shane Wilson-owned eight-year-old bypassed Hardline leaving the back straight to maintain a 100 per cent record for the season as five lengths covered the first five home

Star performance

“His performance in Lough brickland was excellent; it was very tacky ground today and it didn’t suit him,” O’Connor said, “but he won very comfort ably in the end and travelled very well throughout.”

Just seven days after chasing ho me Th e St or yt elle r at Necarne when pitched into open company on his first start for the David Christie stable, Global Assembly pounced late to deny The Storyteller’s stable mate Wearelongterm in the Dunlop Homes winner-of-one Th e Ta tte rs alls wi nner Wearelongterm, sporting new colours of Alymer stud having

changed ownership since his debut maiden victory, had set the tempo under runaway leading rider Barry O’Neill.

However, a combination of several jumping errors and struggling to round the Kirkis town bends left him unable to dismiss the challenge of the Belclare maiden winner

The pair served up a thrilling finish on the run to the line, wi th Ro b Ja me s’s mo un t gaining the verdict by a neck with the pair pulling 28 lengths clear of Ballymagee.

“We thought he would win coming here,” Christie said. “He’ll climb the winners’ ranks in points, then we’ll look for a hunter chase with him That was a great tussle with two of the best riders there has ever been in the game.”

Ba llym ag ee ’s tr ain er Caroline McCaldin had sent out the recent Grade 2 winner

VALE AT TURTULLA SUNDAY

Herm es Allen to win the Dennison Commercials four year-old maiden for her father Wilson Dennison a year ago, however, Kerryhill, one of two runners to carry his silks in this year’s race, had to settle for the runner-up berth.

The Soldier Of Fortune gelding, a €65,000 purchase as a foal, made good progress to come from off the pace, but he could never get to the Patrick

Turley-trained

a quarter.

That was also the winning margin for Intersky Sunset in the Wilson Auctions five-year old-a nd-upwa rd s ma re s’ maiden as Karen McNeilly’s mare completed the sequence after two placed efforts at Toomebridge and Moira.

Dara McGill had burned off the challenge of all bar Visible Attraction leaving the back straight, but that Limerick bumper runner-up kept them honest up the home straight before Intersky Sunset took command on the run-in.

“She’s a real hardy mare I thought she would run a massive race,” McGill said. “She was always holding on and was going away at the finish

Hey Day Baby proves herself in famous

JOHN DUGGAN’S silks will forever be associated with the record-breaking champion poi nt -t o- po in t ma re Longhouse Music.

His green and black colours were carried to further success in the pointing sphere by another mare, Hey Day Baby, who landed the Tipperary Cheese Company & Lyons Tyre Services Thurles four-year-old mares’ maiden.

Eoin Mahon sent the Soldier Of Fortune mare to the front from the drop of the flag, and she put the experience gained from three previous outings to fend off the challenge of Sean Doyle’s Presenting Doyen.

“This is a lovely mare who has a great pedigree that includes Nicky Henderson’s former good mare Verdana Blue,” said Derek O’Connor who was representing his brother Paurick.

“Eoin gave her a brilliant ride from the front and she seemed

Star performance

to really enjoy it. John’s been a great supporter of point-to points for many years and we are thrilled to get a winner for him.”

Th e fo rm er 11-ti me champion rider also visited the winner’s enclosure himself when he teamed up with the now Wexford-based Gearoid O’Loughlin to take the Gain Equine Nutrition, Kirby’s Pharmacy, Ballinroe Interna tional Transport & Local Trainers five-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden with Annie K

The Valirann mare was bred by Whytemount Stud’s own Ronnie O’Neill and having been purchased by her handler

for €30,000 at the 2020 Derby sale, she made the perfect start to her career when easily defeating the recent Lisronagh fourth Fairland by nine lengths

Incidentally, the five-year old’s year younger brother Le cky Wa ts o n almost completed an across-the-card double when he crossed the line in front in a Punchestown bumper, only to be demoted to sec on d after a ste wa rd s’ enquiry.

Ellen Doyle sent out the subsequent Grade 3 Monks field novice hurdle victor Hollow Games to make a winning debut at Turtulla in 2020, and she enjoyed further success at the Tipperary venue when achieving a similar feat with The Jukebox Man in the Tattersalls NH, CJ Sheeran & Co and Lorcan O’Riordan

Farrier four-year-old geldings’ maiden.

The Ask gelding was picked up for just €3,000 by his owner John Phelan as a foal from the Goffs sales ring in what now looks to be a particularly shrewd purchase, after he beat Cleatus Poolaw by six lengths Brian Dunleavy’s mount will now be sold.

Handler Maike Magnusson has moved from Clare to Bill Harney’s old yard in Temp lemore and, although her first runner of the season, Fifty Shadesof Bay, got no further than the first fence in the day’s opener, she had better luck in the Goffs UK Tingle Creek Sale five-year-old geldings’ maiden.

Busty Boy had made little impression in four outings on the track for his previous connections, and despite being sent off an unconsidered 10-1 shot for his stable debut, the Ivawood gelding produced a much-improved performance

GOLDEN

Derek O’Connor makes all with Annie K to land the five-year old mares’ maiden

The Hero Next Door, who took control from the front to open his account under Declan Lavery by a length and

The Jukebox Man finished off a particularly strongly run race in the style of a smart performer to make a winning debut

The Hero Next Door controlled the four-year-old maiden from the front as he held off all challengers before winning snugly

“She’ll probably go back to the track now with the break till the spring points. She’s handi capped, so she has a few handicap hurdle options It’s something to look forward to.”

Round The Square supplied Stuart Crawford with his first pointing winner of the season in the Tattersalls NH five-year old geldings’ maiden, a race in which the Larne handler was mob-handed as he was respon sible for three of the nine runners

Crawford had sent out the Ge ta wa y ge ldin g’s d am , Farfields, to win a pair of pointto- po i nt s at Mo ir a and Loughanmore dur ing the 2010/11 season, and her third foal made the breakthrough under the winning handler’s younger brother Ben, as they inflicted a second narrow defeat on the Broughshane runner-up Zettabyte.

The Meath-based Claire O’ Co nn el l wa s the only handler who travelled from outside the region to make it into the winner’s enclosure as she saddled O’Connell to land the Bar One Racing older geldings’ maiden.

The Westerner gelding had pulled up at Loughbrickland on his debut three weeks earlier, and Paul Bannon again used patient tactics before sweeping to the front in a decisive move outside his rivals at the end of the back straight.

Th at pr ov ed to be th e winning of the race as he upset the gambled-on Drumlee Brexit by two and a half lengths

“Claire’s horses seem to come on for the run and he sprinted home for me,” Bannon said.

“He jumped brilliantly; it’s a great asset to him He beat horses with decent bits of form and he’s done it impressively.”

Duggan silks

to beat Farren Glory by two lengths and supply Mikey Sweeney with his first winner back from injury.

“He did what we hoped he’d do and we’re over the moon with him,” Magnusson said. “Chasing was always going to be his ga me and we wi ll hopefully sell him on now. We have 15 or so in at the moment with plenty of three-year-olds, so we’re looking forward to the spring now.”

Some Are Lucky lived up to hi s na me in the Qu inlan Transport, Centenary Agri & Phil Purcelle Engineering open for novice riders

He had just been joined in the lead at the penultimate fence by the strong-travelling favourite Brain Power, when his rival came a cropper, gifting the 11-year-old with a widemargin victory.

Sam Curling’s son of Gold Well was recording his 12th success in the pointing fields

by defeating Is A Real Champ by 24 lengths, matching his winning margin at Rathcannon a fortnight earlier as he was reunited with his owner Gerry Spain for a popular victory.

“He’s just a brilliant horse to have in the yard,” Curling said.

“I’m delighted for Gerry, he loves the game and, like us all, will get a great kick out of that.

“The horse seems to be in great old form and if he comes out of this okay, we might turn him out in the banks race in Lingstown next Sunday.”

The INHSC five-year-old and upwards maiden was confined to handlers who had saddled no more than ten winners, and it saw Suttons Hill run out a wide-margin winner for the Bruff-based handler

The Arcadio gelding had finished third in a similar event at Largy in the spring, and proved 15½ lengths too good for Whatwoulditb under Mikey O’Connor

‘He’s different class’

Samcro lands third straight runaway win

THE MIGHTY Samcro once again barely moved out of a canter to land his third succes sive victory of the season with a 35- length su cc ess in the Golden Anchor Castletown open, taking his aggregate winning total in those races to 132 lengths

With Samcros already a winner at the Wicklow venue in October, Barry O’Neill repeated the tactics which proved so successful on that occasion and again at Damma House a fortnight earlier as he sent Gordon Elliott’s ten-year-old to the front.

Lo ugh De rg Sp ir it wa s scarcely able to get within ten le ng th s of th e od ds -on favourite throughout a race which saw the four runners separated by wide margins from an early stage, and they scarcely got any closer as the Germany gelding maintained his 100 per cent strike rate in the pointing fields

“He’s different class, that’s all you can really say,” O’Neill said. “He’s very versatile The last day we took a lead and today we made the running. It’s going to take a fair horse to stay with him because he’s just different class.”

That wide-margin victory completed a double on the card for O’Neill, who had earlier teamed up with his chief supporter Colin Bowe to lead

Star performance

Samcro

home a one-t wo for the Milestone Stables operator in the Tattersalls NH, Millhouse Veterinary & D.W. O’Toole So lici to rs fo ur-y ear-o ld maiden.

O’Neill’s mount Boston Town may have finished a distant third to the recent Down Royal bumper winner Ki ng Of Ki ng sf ield whe n making his debut at Portrush in the spring, but he produced a much-improved performance to account for his Bertie Finnridden stablemate Captain Butler by seven and a half lengths

Denis Murphy sent a fivestrong team to Fairwood Park with all bar one making the places on an afternoon that saw him enjoy a brace initiated by the overdue success of Ga rc on Darg en t in the Mercedes Benz Ireland five and six-year-old geldings’ maiden.

The Doyen gelding had chased home the recent Grade B Bold Lad handicap hurdle victor Watch House Cross in a Dromahane maiden on his debut in May 2021.

Ho we ve r, he ha d be en unable to make the expected

breakthrough in three subse quent starts before duly doing so in the ha nds of Ja ck Hendrick.

The €35,000 purchase over hauled Elliott’s newcomer Ringcraft on the climb to the final fence before powering ten lengths clear up the run-in.

“We go t him ho bd ayed during the summer and sure it has made the difference,” Murphy said.

“He is a horse with plenty of ability and we thought he would have won earlier than this He will be fine and tip away I’ll keep him and go for a winners’ race now.”

The Ballyboy Stables handler re turne d to the wi nn er ’s enclosure when Chatshow Ho st la n de d h e r sec ond success of the season at the Wi ck lo w ve nu e in the F. Redmond, S. Pritchard & P. Ki nc h El ec tr ic al ma re s’ winners-of-two.

The five-year-old landed her first victory at the track when left clear at the final fence last month, but there was no such late drama on her second visit She comfortably beat the recent Lisronagh third Winnie Woodnutt under Luke Murphy, who also bred the Soldier Of Fortune mare with his mother Miriam

Murphy was sporting his parents’ own colours on Neat Locality in the Goffs UK Tingle

Creek Sale five-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden, but they had to settle for second in a dramatic race

Ge nt le Ann a held the advantage and was travelling well when coming down at the pen ult im at e fe nc e. He r departure left the path clear for John Redmond’s Inthemean time to supply local rider James Walsh with his second winner of the season by 19 lengths

The Kavanagh Tarmac, C & D Recycling Kavanagh Ltd & The Veterinary Hospital older maiden for novice riders saw Dan Nevin gain his opening win of the campaign when putting on the colours of his long-time supporters Tom Power and Annette Lawlor

Their Hastobedone had been brought down at the penultimate fence at Moira last month when still in touch and he made amends by fending off a mu ch -i mp ro ve d Ro ya l Finesse by two lengths.

The victory was some worthy compensation for Wexford handler John Walsh, after his stable star Singing Banjo was beaten by a short head in the Risk Of Thunder Chase over the banks course at Punches town earlier in the day.

Derek O’Connor brings January Jets home a cosy winner of the open

delivered yet another knockout performance with his runaway victory

Dark horses: runners on the rise in the four-year-old maiden won by Boston Town

Contact: David Magnier, Albert Sherwood, David O’Sullivan, Andrew Magnier & Catherine Magnier:

Robert McCarthy, Bobby McCarthy & Peter Kenneally: 058-56254. TomGaffney, Joe Hernon, Paddy Fleming, Cathal Murphy & Barry Kennedy: 025-31966.