Point-To-Point Weekly 08-02-23

FORTUNE AWAITS WEEKLY

De Tellers Fortune is oneofthree weekend winners as the new cycle of races for four-year-olds starts Reports, pages 4-5

DEREK O’CONNO

‘If Rob James can keep up an exceptional 41 per cent strike-rate he could throw down abig challenge to Barry O’Neill’ Page 2

hatwe people w coming b havi

ewantatKnockanard is whohaven’t been in awhile back out to see the new banks ing abit of fun’ Page 3

❝If I had to make a decision today, the Ballymore is where I'd be going❞ Willie Mullins on GAELICWARRIOR, winner of his 3 starts this season by a combined total of almost 105 lengths, RACING POST.com 7/2/23

❝I've only been training for five years and never had a champion but I hope this one can be good❞ Olly Murphy on CHASINGFIRE, winner of his 3 starts this season by a combined 38 lengths, RACING POST, 5/2/23

ByMONSUNandalreadysireofCheltenhamFestival winnersQUILIXIOS(Gr.1)andARAMAX(Gr.3)

NH SIRES

DerekO’Connor Straight to thePoint ButcherHollow’ssuccess starts thevital cycleofregeneration

WEhad threefixtures on Sundayand it wasabig dayinthe calendar,featuring the firstfour-yearold maidensofthe season.

All three races were firstonthe card,but the West Waterfordmeeting at Tallow gotstartedhalf an hour beforethe other twomeetings, giving former rider Con McSweeneythe honour of trainingthe firstwinner 2023 in the agegroup.

HisKingston Hill geldingButcher Hollowwas astylishwinner under DarraghAllen and is alovelysales prospectfor Con, who owns him in partnership with BennyWalsh,the Wexfordrider best knownfor his big winnersoverthe bankscourseat

Punchestown

It wasa brilliantday for Bennyand his wife Jennywho have built up a strong reputation for buyinggood young prospects and sellingthem on.

Twoyearsago theysoldThe Goffer, winner of Sunday’s Leopardstown Chase, his fourth win for Gordon Elliott, who thinkshe could be an IrishGrand National horse.

BennyboughtThe Goffer for €5,000 at the Goffs Land Roversalein August 2020 and sold him on to Gordon for €65,000 the following springafter he hadfinishedthird in a four-year-old maiden at Tipperary.

Butcher Hollowwas another inexpensiveLandRover purchase Bennypaid€7,500 for him lastJune

With afour-year-old winunder his belt nowyou canbesurethat this is another sales successstoryinthe makingfor Crossgale stables

This is just one of the many examples we’ll hopetosee on a weekly basis nowthat the four-yearold maidensare up and running. Theseraces arecentral to the whole sector,the place wheremostofthe revenueisgenerated.

Thereare alot of differentthings that have to fit together to make our businesswork. It’s acycle starting with the studs and the breeders, goingthrough the foals sales and the pinhookingbusiness,ontothe store sales,then to the point-to-pointfield, backtothe sales,and on to the racecourse.

Whenthe four-year-olds sell well the producers have the ammunition

to go backtothe storesales and the wheel keeps turningsmoothly.

Ellen Doyle’sBaltimore Stables is amongthe topproducers,and the operation made agreat starttothe four-year-old campaign when the Brian Dunleavy-ridden De Tellers Fortune wonthe Ballinaboola maiden in whichseveral of the other bigWexfordstables were represented.

OneofEllen’s mostrecent graduatestothe trackisHalkaDu

Tarbet,a mare boughtbyPeter Molony’sRathmoreStudfor Honeysuckle’s owner Kenny Alexander after winningamaiden at BorrisHouse

Shewon abumperand maiden hurdle on her firsttwo starts for Gordon Elliottand wasn’t beaten far in thirdbehind Ashroe Diamond, one of the main fancies for the

Mares’ Novices’Hurdle at Cheltenham, in arecentGrade 3race at Fairyhouse.

No doubt many of thefour-yearold maidens over the comingmonths will be wonbyhigh-profile handlers, butSunday’sBellharbour race proved that the smaller-scale operations cancompete successfully.

Downmexicoway, ownedand trainedbyJohn Staunton and ridden by Eoin Mahon, wasa very popular localwinner.A geldingbyChamps Elysees, he’s outofaFlemensfirth mare who ranonly twice butisahalfsister to the Jonjo O’Neill-trainedGet Me OutOfHere.

It’s the family of Monty’sPass which alsocame into focuslater in the daywhenthe JimmyMangan homebred Soldier Of Fortune gelding Montys Soldier made awinning debutina maiden at Tallow

In-form RobJames can mountastrong titlechallenge

Thereweresome notable riding performances on Sunday. RobJames hadatreble on horses trainedby

Donnchadh Doyle, Henryde Bromhead and TomKeatingat Bellharbour,bringinghis total for the season to 23.

It’s very early days to be talking aboutthe title race butRob is only four behind BarryO’Neill now. If he cankeepupanexceptional 41 per centstrike-ratehecould throw down abig challenge to Barry, who won his sixthchampionship in arow last season.

It wasa memorable dayfor two riderswho enjoyedtheir first success. Joanne Corish,from KilmoreinCountyWexford, gotoff the mark on OldStyle Humor for Sean Doyle at Ballinaboola,and Thomas Costello,amemberofone of the best-known families in the sport, wonatBellharbour on Asian Master,trainedbyhis father Tony He’s following an amazing tradition. Hisfather rode Best Mate, Florida Pearl and OurVic in the early days of their careers,and his uncles Tomand Dermot both rode more than 200 winnersinpoints

Asian Masterwas havingonly his thirdstart. On the same card last year he wasunlucky to runup againstthe Donnchadh DoyletrainedFact To File,who is nowwith Willie Mullins and finishedsecond to ADream To Shareinthe Grade 2 bumper at Leopardstownon Saturday.

TheunbeatenADream To Share hasaFlatpedigreebut his trainer John Kiely is one of the great personalitiesofIrish jump racing and aman Iowe alot to,onaccount of his supportand guidance when I wasstartingout.Hegavemea lot of good opportunities in bumpers and playedamajor partinlaunching my career

This weekend Ihad causetothink about John and the many others who have supportedmeover the years when Iwas privileged to ride my 1,300th point-topointwinnerat Bellharbour Icouldn’t think of a better place to have done it than ridingLonghouseLegacyfor twogreat people,John Duggan and SamCurling,and surroundedby family and friends at afavourite local track.

‘Rob is only four behind Barry O’Neill now. If he cankeepup an exceptional 41 percentstrike-rate he couldthrow down abig challenge’

ButcherHollowand Darragh Allenontheirway to victoryatTallow in theopening four-year-old maiden of theseason

HEALYRACING

JimmyO’Leary (below)onhow he hasbrought banks to Knockanard aftera70-year gap

THE excitement is really buildingahead of the return of banks racingtoKnockanard on Sunday.

My neighbours,Patsand Bill Moore, ownedthe landthe point-to-pointtakes place on. Bill diedagood few years ago and Pats diedfouryearsago and he left me the land.

It wasPatswho introduced me to breedinghorses.About 35 yearsago we gota broodmare betweenusand we starteddoingall thehorses together

‘Thisfella hadn’t been pointing for more than 20 yearsbut he wanted to seethe banksrace’

He wasmad forbreeding and madfor point-to-pointing. He wonthe leadingpoint-topointbreeder awardin2005 and it waslikewinningthe lotto for him

Therewas banks racinghere 70 years agoand Isaidto honour Pats and Bill it would be nice to reintroduce abanks race as theywerestaunch point-to-pointmen;theyloved

it andlived forthe game In 2019, when Igot the place,Iasked the committee would therebeany chance we could have abanksrace to commemoratethe twoboys.

They came backtomea couple of weeks later andsaid theywould go ahead with it

We contactedVal O’Connell [IHRBcourseInspector] and Enda Bolger forguidance. Val came down and marked out where we should put each of the jumpsand then Enda had alooktoo.Hegaveushis thoughts on what would be good andbad ideas.

Valthen introducedusto Punchestown racecourse and they asked us to come up duringtheir festival. They took us outon their crosscountrytrack and showed us what they have.Wetookmeasurements and pictures of all the obstacles and settowork buildingour banks

Valhad told us we couldn’t build it with just soil because you would neverget it to settle properlyand therewould be falsepatches.Webuilt up the innards ofthe bankswith stone from the farmand then went with the topsoil and sods.

We broughtindiggers and it probably took us six months to

build them.Every Saturdayor anyfineevening that we had, therewas abunch of fiveorsix fellas who would turn up and go at it

We were hopingtobeable to usethe bankslastyear but theyjustweren’t ready. Val came backthree months ago and said that theywere100 percentfor this season, so we arereally lookingforward to it

It’s likeachild waitingfor Christmas.Wehad alaunch lastmonth and everybodywas so enthusiasticabout it.There were aloadofyoung ladshere, which wasgreat to see

They arethe futureand we need to encouragethem to get involved

Everyone is talkingabout Sunday. Iwenttothe localfor apintand theman behindthe counter told me he was coming. Thefella beside me told him he hadn’t seenhim at the point-to-pointin20years, buthesaid‘Idon’t care, I’m goingtosee the banksrace,I want to be there.’ That’s what we want, people who haven’t been in awhile comingback outand havingabit of fun.

My wife Liz and Ilovethe point-topoints,wego everySunday. It’s adifferentbreed of people at the races.You couldn’t believethe buzz in Carrigtwohill last month. It wasa fine day, the crowdwas outand everyone wasinsuch goodformchattingand blaggarding. IsaidtoLiz cominghome that it wassomeday and hopefully we’ll have another fine daylikethat for us on Sunday. We aresoclosenow, thereare only acouple of moresleeps to go

JIMMY O’LEARYWAS TALKING TO EOGHAIN WARD

BargainputsMcSweeney back in thegroove

THEnew season of four-yearold maiden races kickedoff on apositivenoteatTallowon Sundaywhen tenhorses contestedthe firstrace of 2023 in the agegroup

That promising startwas followed 30 minutes later by sevenrunner the open ers a Ballinaboola and Be llh arb ou r wi th Jo hn Stanton, Ellen Doyle and Con McSweeneythe first handlersto get on thescore boardinthe divis

Afirstfour-year-old winner since 2019 for riderturned-handler McSweeney, Butcher Hollowproved to be a shrewdpurchasefromparttwo

of last year’s Goffs Land Rover sale having costjust€7,500 whenboughtinpartnership with the Crossgales Stables team of Bennyand Jenny Walsh

TheWalsheshad double reason to celebrateas rformer point-pointer The Goffer (left)won a€ 150,000 Gr ade A ha ndic ap ch as ea tt he Dublin Racing Fe st iv al the me day.

is is the second su cces siv ey ear the Tallowfour-year-oldmaiden hasgone to abargain-buy as 12 months agoitwas wonby David Murphy’sMatata, who

wasalsoboughtfor €7,500 at the store sales

Despite six-figure store purchasescroppingupwith ever greater regularity in fouryear-old maidens,theseresults show you don’t have to spend a fortune to compete at the highestlevel in the sphere.

Plight of confined maidenshighlighted

Point-to-pointing returns to Comea on Sunday, ayear on from the notable firstfixture for the Scarteen Foxhounds which christenedthe new course.

Theopeningfour-year-old maiden that dayproved significant when the firsttwo home went for acombined£640,000 in thesales ring

It came 30 minutes beforeLiz Lalorrodeher wayintothe

historybooks by passingHelen BryceSmith’s longstanding tally of 109 winners to become Ireland’smost successful female point-to-pointrider

As racingreturnstothe Tipperaryvenue,the confined ma id en epitomis es the struggles facing anumberof hunt committees.

Thereare just tenhorses from apoolof1,896 horses with aScarteenFoxhounds hunter certificateand,with two of the ten beingrace winners, it reduces the pool of potential runners –withJohn Gleeson responsible for half of them

Tenyearsago there were 43 Scarteen certificates at this pointofthe season, which highlights the plightofmany confined maiden races and the potentialfinancialloss

facingcommitteesfor persevering with them.

It adds to the case for letting committees runa confined maiden as aseventh race to ensuretheydonot disappear from the programme

Doyle has control at Bellharbour

Thesayinghorsesfor coursesis often trottedout butatweaked versioncould be used to describeone handler’s record in thefive-year-old geldings’ maiden at Bellharbour.

Sunday’s eyecatching debut success of newcomer Mt Fugi Park wasa fourth winner in the las ts ix ru nnin gs for Donnchadh Doyle

On ly Do yl e’sy ou ng er brother Cormacand Tipperary handler John Nallen have been

able to break his stranglehold on arace in whichhesentout Fact To File to winlastyear

Almost12months to the day from that debutsuccess, the six -y ear -o ld fi nis he da commendablesecond in the Grade2 Future Stars bumper at Leopardstown on the first dayofthe Dublin Racing Festival.

Therewas betterfortune for former pointersatSandown as Gerri Colombe’s success in the ScillyIslesnovicechase under Jordan Gainfordwas a13th Grade 1prize of the season to be claimedbygraduates of the point-to-pointfields.

Theseven-year-oldremains unbeatensincenar rowly landingafour-year-old maiden for Colin Bowe at Lingstownin March2020.

JimmyO’Learyand canine helper putthe finishing touches to theKnockanard course andits newbanksahead of Sunday’s meeting

SEASON’S LEADERS

O’Connor at a new milestone as Legacy supplies 1,300th success

DEREK O’CONNOR continues to go where no rider has been before by becoming the first rider in point-to-point history to reach 1,300 winners

For future quiz contestants, the win came on Longhouse Legacy in the Gain Equine Nutrition, Gort Co-Op Mart & Kerry Co-Op mares’ maiden.

Twenty-three years after O’Connor’s first points winner at Killaloe, it was another Clare course which hosted his latest mil es to ne as Lo ng ho us e Legacy was cheered back into the winner’s enclosure by a large local crowd.

Backed into 4-5 favouritism when disappointing on her debut, she duly delivered on that market confidence at the

Star performance

Downmexicoway overcame signs of greenness to burst to the front on the run to the last for a popular local victory

second time of asking when accounting for her market rival Easy To Follow at the final fence to give Sam Curling his ninth victory of the campaign by two and a half lengths O’Connor has long been associated with John Staunton’s Tubber stable and it was that handler who was responsi bl e fo r se ndin g ou t

Downmexicoway to win the Costello Family four-year-old maiden under Eoin Mahon.

The field was tightly grouped until the second-last, which put the emphasis on speed, and it was the Champs Elysees gelding who picked up best to kick six lengths clear of Harley Dunne’s Strong Foundations

“We’re thrilled with that,” Staunton said. “Eoin rides a lot for me and, as usual, was very good there.

“Everything has come easily to this horse, so it’s been easy to train him He’ll be sold now.”

Rob James had won the last two runnings of that four-yearold maiden and, despite his mount this year, Mellinium Park, pulling up, the 29-year-old

WEST WATERFORD AT TALLOW SUNDAY

still claimed the day’s riding honours with a treble, putting him on 23, four behind Barry O’Neill in the table.

It began on Mt Fugi Park in the Tattersalls NH & Halpin’s Service Station five-year-old geldings’ maiden. His handler Donnchadh Doyle went to £65,000 to acquire the son of Walk In The Park in what looks a good investment on the evidence of his five-length defeat of fellow newcomer Lord Of Thunder

Henry de Bromhead may have drawn a blank at the Dublin Racing Festival but his stable maintained a 100 per cent record for the season in the open divis ion wh en Somptueux won the Monks Bar & Restaurant open.

Chris’s Dream has been De Bromhead’s leading light in opens this term with back-toback victories at Moig South and Ca rri ga ro st ig, an d So mp tu eux adde d to the stable’s successes on his first

Memories of Grand National for Mangan

MEMORIES of landowner

Jimmy Mangan’s 2003 Aintree Gr and Na tion al wi nner Monty’s Pass were evoked after the scintillating debut success of Montys Soldier Mangan trains the homebred Montys Soldier for his wife Mary and the son of Soldier Of Fortune traces to the family of Monty’s Pass

The towering Montys Soldier travelled effortlessly into the race, the Goulding Family, John Connery Family & BH Tree Services adjacent maiden, under Johnny Hurley before moving past longtime leader Champagne Saloon well before two out.

It was all plain sailing from there as the winning halfbrother to Grade 2 hurdler

Minella Awards stormed clear to beat All Night Parking by 20 lengths

“He’s a horse that we think a lot of and he will be brought along the same lines as Monty’s Pass, who won his maiden here as a five-year-old [in 1998],” Mangan said.

“Monty’s Pass won four points altogether and we will

Star performance

Rocky’s Howya became the first horse of the season to reach the five-winner mark with a 45-length victory

now ru n this fellow in a winners’ race.”

Handler Con McSweeney received an ideal gift ahead of his wedding to Niamh Moloney on Thursday as he sent out Butcher Hollow, whom he owns jointly with County Wexford handler Benny Walsh, to record a taking victory under Darragh Allen in the Fifty Stars four-year-old maiden.

In a race run at a ferocious pace, Butcher Hollow was always in the first two and the Kingston Hill-sired winner moved past favourite Desert Halo after the third-last.

Butcher Hollow – six-horse handler McSweeney’s first runner of the season – could always be called the likely winner and led by eight lengths over closest pursuer Siam Park when Jimmy Kelly’s charge fell at the final fence

eight days after a fifth unsuccessful attempt in maiden company, had the desired effect as he eased 15 lengths clear of the Ballycrystal winner Desert Cave

“It’s taken a while but he got there,” stable representative Michael Phillips said. “He’s been very unlucky on more than one occasion. He doesn’t handle soft ground and really liked the better ground today.”

Asian Master had run a race full of promise when making his debut on the corresponding card 12 months ago as he had chased home the Grade 2 Future Stars bumper runner-up Fact To File

Despite disappointing at Corbeagh House in December, he bounced back to form under Thomas Costello by beating Virginia Considine’s Honneur De Sivola by three lengths in the Linnane’s Lobster Bar, Conoles Bar & Sixmilebridge Co-Op Mart older geldings’ maiden.

Day to remember for debut winners Sugrue and Corish

IT WAS a day of firsts for Ross Sugrue and Joanne Corish who had debut winners at the Wexford venue.

Sugrue was the first to get on the sc oreb oard when he guided Philip Rothwell’s Lesssaidthebetter to victory in the Nitrofert older maiden for novice riders

start since failing to take to the cross-county course at last year’s Punchestown festival.

The eight-year-old inflicted a third defeat of the season on the dual Tetretema Cup winner Aloneamongmillions when landing the four-runner race by two and a half lengths

“That was a lovely performance,” stable representative Alan Coady said. “You couldn’t but be happy with that. He put in a superb round of jumping and really enjoyed that ground.”

James teamed up with a third ha nd ler to com pl ete his hat-trick when Paddy De Pole sprang a surprise in the Clare Road Tyres winners-of-one

Tom Keating’s five-year-old was one of two maidens in the seven strong line-up but the switch to winners’ grade, just

The success was a first in the saddle for handler Tony Costello’s 21-year-old son, who said: “I’m studying business stu dies at LIT [L im er i ck Institute of Technology]. It’s great to get the first one as I’ve had my fair share of seconds

“I’m going to keep my head down and finish out college to get my degree and hopefully I can keep picking up as many outside rides as possible to keep progressing my riding for the rest of the season.”

afterSoldier’s victory

The bay crossed the line 16 lengths ahead of One More Stroke, who came through to deprive Desert Halo of the runner-up spot by a head.

“He’s a big horse who’s a staying chaser and I’d compare him to Goulanes, who I owned when I worked with Robert Tyner, and he went on to win a Midlands Grand National [in 2014 ] for Da vid Pipe ,” McSweeney said.

Butcher Hollow is a €7,500

Go ffs Land Ro ve r sa les graduate out of a half-sister to Gr ade 1- place d hu rd ler

According To Dick from the sam e fami ly as Pe ter Mc Cr ee ry ’s Ir ish Gr and National winner Son Of War.

Rocky’s Howya continued handler Declan Queally’s outstanding season with a fifth straight success this term in the Rathbarry & Glenview Stud open.

The seven-year-old gelding was bounced out smartly by Chris O’Donovan and made all the running before increasing the tempo from five out.

Hi s ma in ma rk et ri va l, Chatham Street Lad, came

under pressu re aft er the fourth-last.

Rocky’s Howya was showing no signs of stopping and returned with 45 lengths to spare over Grade 1-placed Chatham Street Lad in the colours of Margaret Kiely.

“I’m delighted; he’s a horse who’s going from strength to strength,” Queally’s son Declan said.

“He’s a very game horse who stays well and he’s a great jumper. We’ll now seriously consider the Cheltenham Foxhunters and he could have another run between now and then.”

Sean Doyle’s newcomer Leader In The Park won an incident-packed Goffs UK Aintree Sale five-year-old geldings’ maiden.

Well touted beforehand, the Liam Gilligan-ridden bay effortlessly hit the front before two out and was left with a straightforward task when his thr ee cl o se st pu rsue rs ,

Truckers Cruising, Bennettsbridge and Rawhide Kid, exited at the penultimate fence

“I think he has a big engine

and Li am sa id he wa s awesome,” Doyle said of his €52,000 Derby sale graduate, who is a half-brother to Tony Martin’s three-time Grade 1 winner Benefficient.

Th ere wa s ye t another Wexford-trained winner as the Paul Pierce-trained Cold Sobar, who was beaten nine lengths into third by Tahmuras on his debut in a Ballingarry auction maiden in May 2021, returned from a 15-month absence to beat Dontrushslowtouch under Sean Staples in the Coolmore Stud National Hunt Division older geldings’ maiden.

Meanwhile, 23-year-old Spancilhill rider Jack O’Grady partnered his second winner when landing the Old Road Stud & Gain Equine Nutrition five- and six-year-old mares’ maiden on Bobbi’s Beauty for his boss Sam Curling.

The once-raced Bobbi’s Beauty, whose dam is a halfsister to Menorah, gave a faultless display of fencing when leading from the ninth fence to beat Inchiquin Spirit by four lengths

The 21-year-old Tralee rider, who honed his craft on the southern pony racing circuit during his formative years, has gained a good deal of pointing experience since his debut mount in late 2018, but he could scarcely have gained his opening victory in easier style.

He steered the Philip Rothwell-trained Lesssaidthebetter to a 33-length defeat of Turnthelightsoff

“We got a nice lead out in front and I just quickened up going down the back the last time,” Sugrue said of the nineyear-old, who now has the Bishopscourt Cup as his big spring target.

“I heard there was nothing coming and he won easily in the end.”

Corish didn’t have things as easy for her breakthrough success in the Ballywalter Farms winners-of-three

Her mount Old Style Humor was pushed all the way by the lon g-a bs en t De nt o De s Obeaux, but the Ballycrystal maiden winner had recent race fitness on his side following two fine placed efforts at Tinahely and Ballycrystal, which gave him the upper hand.

His one-length success completed an across-the-card double for Sean Doyle, who was also among the winners at Tallow.

“I haven’t had many rides, just mostly on my own horses,” the 24-year-old rider said. “I’ve been working for Cormac Doyle for two years and he has put me up a few times now. My dream is to ride over the banks in Punchestown some day.”

Cormac Doyle was himself among the winners in the Coolbawn Gallops mares’ ma iden as Stadium Talk produced a gutsy performance to vin dic at e the pa tie nt approach connections had taken with the €41,000 Soldier Of Fortune mare.

Be at en ou t of si gh t at Dromahane on her debut last April, she outfought Paddy Turley’s promising newcomer

Star performance

De Tellers Fortune hit the front three out and was always doing enough to keep his rivals at bay

Callin Baton Rouge by a neck on her first start in ten months

She’ll now go to the sales

“S he ha d one ru n in Dromahane last year and was a bit weak,” Doyle said “The horses were a bit sick then so we put them out in the field. They’ve been healthy since they came back in and she is after improving loads She’s a nice mare. Hopefully, she’ll go on to do bigger and better things.”

Stadium Talk’s sire Soldier Of Fortune was responsible for no fewer than three winners in the pointing fields on the day, including De Tellers Fortune, who made a winning debut in what was a locally dominated Tattersalls NH four-year-old maiden.

All six finishers were from local Wexford stables, with Ellen Doyle’s bay picking up best to beat Laurens Bay by a length and a half, and in the process denying Cormac Doyle a double on the card.

“It’s nice to get a gauge as to where we are with the rest of them,” Doyle’s brother James said. “We thought plenty of him coming here today but I’m sure connections of the other six horses thought the same of theirs

“You just don’t know what to expect with your first four-yearold of the year, but we’re

thrilled. We have another two or three by Soldier Of Fortune and I like the sire a lot, so I’m looking forward to them as well.”

Colin Bowe has unleashed su bs eq uen t Chelt enh am Festival winners Envoi Allen and Telmesomethinggirl to win that four-year-old maiden, and although out of luck with Loud And Proud in this year’s race, the Cooney Furlong six-yearold geldings’ maiden was some com pen sa tion for the champion handler His Tara Cove had posted a career best at Carrigarostig three weeks earlier in far more testing conditions The Kayf Tara gelding proved his versatility by mastering quicker ground to beat Councillor K by eight lengths under Barry O’Neill and will now bid to double his career tally in a winners’ contest next.

The two reigning champions also held every chance with Walks Like The Man in the White Horse Stud five-year-old geldings’ maiden, as the favourite was upsides Typhoon Flyer jumping the penultimate fence when that rival fell and brought him down Woodie Flash managed to avoid that drama and took full advantage to give Cleariestown rider Barry Stone his first success of the season when returning seven and a half len gths cle ar of Ou ts ide Adesa

Trained on the beach at Woodstown by Rosemary Connors and owned by her partner Darren Carey, the Leading Light gelding will now be sold.

Pictures HEALY RACING

Derek O’Connor clinches his 1,300th winner aboard the Sam Curling-trained Longhouse Legacy

Joanne Corish earns her debut win on Old Style Humor (right)

National Hunt Chase after comfortable Towton win

CITY CHIEF, bred by L Kenny, won Saturday’s Towton Novices’ Chase-Gr.2 at Wetherby for Nicky Henderson and Mrs J Donnelly

Point-to-Point treble on Sunday…

DE TELLERS FORTUNE, bred by Michael Whitty, made a winning debut for Mary Doyle in the 4YO Maiden at Ballinaboola

MONTYS SOLDIER (5YO) scored by 20 lengths first time out at Tallow for trainer/breeder Jimmy Mangan while STADIUM TALK (5YO), bred by Thomas James, won at Ballinaboola for Cormac Doyle

Other smart winners…

SERGEANT WILSON (5YO), bred by Seosamh Murphy, won a maiden hurdle last Thursday for Nigel Twiston-Davies and owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede

JACK HYDE (5YO), bred by Noel McLoughlin, won a bumper at Newcastle last Wednesday by 15 lengths for Thomas Gallagher and owner/rider John Reddington

BELLE THE LIONESS (6YO), bred by Mrs Vera Deegan, won her maiden hurdle at Thurles in January for Henry de Bromhead and goes straight to Cheltenham for the Mares' Novice Hurdle

'He had plenty left' - City Chief slashed for

Contact: 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.

DE TELLERS FORTUNE