Point-to-Point Weekly Racing Post 5-10-22

DerekO’Connor

Straight to thePoint

Pressure is on as competitionon trackand in thesales ring grows

AND so it beginsagain.

We’rebackafter the summer break heading into an autumn campaign that provides ashopwindowfor members of the four-year-old and five-year-old crops who mayhaveneeded more time than the faster-maturinghorses who dominated maidenslastwinter and spring.

Many of themostpromising youngsters found new homes well beforethe end of lastseason, giving the top producersand handlers the ammunition to restockatthe store horsesales

It’s always aboutreinvestment, either acaseofupgrading facilities or biddingtocompete for the strongest pedigreesand the best-looking individuals at the sales

There’salot of pressure. The experience of recentyearssuggests everythingisgettingmore competitive, both in the sales ring and on the track.

From nowon, people will be lookingout for the headline acts from lastyear’s maidens and sales sessions,mapping their progress as theybegin life in bumpers or in novice races for the leadingyards at home and in Britain.

Butit’snot all aboutthe headline acts and the bigtransactions;there’s value at everylevel.

Oneofthe greatattractions of point-to-pointsisthat you never knowwhat the futureisgoingtohold for the young horses you seeonany given weekend.

Here’s an example that cropped up in recentmonths

Five yearsago this month,Rachel O’Neill went to the sales at Goresbridgeand paid €850 for atwo year-old by the Lockinge winner Virtual outofanOscar mare who hadnever run.

As afour-year-old, he ranthree times in point-to-points without managingtocomplete the course.He didn’t winonthe trackuntil his 12th startwhen he landedahandicap hurdle at Kilbegganoff amarkof94.

Since then, Hewick haswon another six races, includingthe bet365 Gold CupatSandown andthe Galway Plate. He wasunlucky notto winthe KerryNational, he’s goingto runinthe American Grand National next, andShark Hanlon plans to train him for the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

Youwould have needed to be some sort of geniustospotHewick’s talentwhen he went to Knockanard for his firststartina point, butyou would definitelyhavepickedout the winner of that race as one to follow.

FernyHollow, a€38,000 store purchase,wentontosellfor €300,000, wonthe Cheltenham bumper the following season, and wasaGrade 1winner over fences last winter

And when Hewick hadhis second runatBorris, you

would have beenimpressed by the winner SportingJohn, a€33,000 store purchase who laterchanged hands for £160,000. Since then he haswon a Grade 1novice chaseand haswon fiveofhis sevenraces over hurdles

Familiar namestothe fore

So anew season is with us,but for some of the main players it was simply acaseofnormalservice resumed.

Champions Colin Bowe and BarryO’Neill combinedto takethe first tworaces of the autumn campaign at Toomebridge on Saturday.

And last year’s championunder-21 rider BrianDunleavy wasalso quicklyinto hisstridewith adouble at thenorthern venue, teamingupwith female trainers from theoppositeend of thecountry

Wexford-based EllenDoyle,who

endedlastseasononawinningnote when MasterSplinter wona maiden at Dromahaneatthe beginningof May, producedthe Shirocco gelding in fine shapetoland the Winner of Oneunder Dunleavy, who alsowon amaiden on the six-year-old Ballymagee forCountyDown handler Caroline McCaldin

Ballymagee wasreturning to pointto-pointaction after runningina couple of hurdle races last winter Haddock De Grissaywas another Toomebridge winner who had racecourseexperience

Thefirstleg of adouble for Ellen Doyle,the French-bred HaddockDe Grissay hadshown gradual improvementinthree bumper outings at Kilbegganduringthe summer.That race-fitness was probably afactor in adisplaythat gave Corkrider DarraghHiggins a firstsuccess.

It wasalsoamemorable opening to the new season for Luke Galligan, from Kells in County Meath. He made his firstpoint-to-pointride a

Races likethis provide good opportunities for up-and-coming riders.The horses involved are likely to be old hands at jumping and mayfind their enthusiasm rekindledbylesserchallenges, even if they have lost the competitiveedgetheyhad at an early stage of their careers

Hardline is agood example.He wonthe Grade 1novice chaseat Limerick’sChristmasmeetingin 2018 and finishedsecond to Minin the John Durkan the following season.

There’splentyoflife left in him to judgefromhis victoryoverSome Man, who waslastseason’smost successful Open horse. Hardline has gone backtohis roots,having started his career with amaiden winat Punchestown in 2016 beatinga horse calledTimewaitsfornoone.That name just aboutsumsitall up

winningone on Hardline for Gordon Elliottinthe Open at Castletown Geoghegan, arace confinedto novice riders.

From amodeststart in point-to-points,Hewick hasgoneontowin thebet365GoldCup and Galway PlatewithJordan Gainford on board each time

PATRICK McCANN

HeatherKiernan says it’s ‘onwards andupwards’ nowinher trainingcareer

THIS is my sixth year as the point-to pointsecretaryfor the Westmeath Foxhounds pointto-pointinCastletownGeoghegan –and thankfully it all went very well for us on Sunday.

Ithink it wasthe firstyear there wasnostressbeforethe firstrace,solongmay that continue because thereisalot of dedicationand hard work from everymember to pull it off

Iwas born into apoint-topointfamily. Both my parents have beeninvolvedwith the point-to-pointherefor over 45 years.Myfather Frankie was the clerkofthe course untilhe sadly passed away in 2017.

He waspreviouslyan amateur jockeyand handler himself.Hewas showjumping for years and then he turnedto point-to-pointing. Idon’t think he rode his firstwinner until he wasinhis forties

TheentireKiernan family were alwaysintoracing. My uncles Michaeland Jimmyalso

‘I hadtolearn howto walk againbecause part of my brainwas injured’

trained for years and Jimmy hastaken over as the clerkof the course for ourpoint-to pointand Michaelisanintegral part of the team as the starter

My sister Sonyarodeamare calledSattin Emma to winat Athenryin1995 and Ifollowed her by startingtorace-ride in 2008, and rode in morethan40 races

Ididn’tmanagetoget a winner beforeunfortunatelyI hadtogiveuprace-ridingdue to abad accidentI hadin2014 ridingahorse outathome

Ireceived very bad head injuries from it,acollapsed lungand Ifractured six ribs, which left me in hospital and rehabfor the guts of ayear

Ihad to learn howtowalk again because the partofmy brain that wasinjured in the fall meantthe signalstomy

arms and legs were cutoff

Thanks to the greatworkof the rehabilitation unit in Tullamorehospital, then the National Rehabilitation HospitalinDun Laoghaire, theygot me on my feet again.

After that, I decidedI wouldn’t race-ride again and it wasavery hard time for me.Physically, Iwas making greatprogress,but mentally it wasvery hard because Iknew I lovedhorses so much andI wasweighingupthe risks of returningtoaninvolvement with racehorses.

Iexplored afew different

Eoghain Ward

Elliottsends heavybrigade into open lightweights

GO RD ON EL LI OT Th as proved to be one of the biggestspendingtrainersofyoung equinetalentfromthe point to-pointsphere.

Of the 16 pointers from last season whichweresold at publicauction for £300,000or more, six arenow housed at his Cu llen tr aS ta bl es,a sh e continues to backa sportwith whichhehas longheld an association.

TheMeath manrode151 pointingwinners between1995 and 2006, atotal he hassince bettered in hisroleasa trainer, and the 2013 champion trainer could nowplayanactiverole in the open lightweightdivision.

As wa srev eale di nt he Ra cin gP os tl as tm on th , Samcrowill return to the pointingfields morethansix yearsafter his competitive debutina Monksgrange four year-old maiden. Thethree time Grade 1winnerwill fea tu re am on gE lli ot t’s enlarged teamofhorses for the open lightweightdivisionthis term.

Last Sunday’sfirstopen lightweightrace of theseason sawHardline, another of El liot t’sf or mer Gr ade 1 winners, getthe better of the reigningchampionpoint-topointer Some Man. Could this

nowset thetone for the coming months?

Interestingly, anumberofhis open lightweightcandidates will feature in the coloursof Elliott’sown staff members, with Samcroset to return to the pointingfields in the colours of Elliott’slong-standingtravellingheadgirl Camilla Sharples, silksmadefamousinthe spherebythe 2019 champion Kruzhlinin.

Sharples will alsoberepresented this season by anew addition to the Elliottteam in Poseidon.A Grade Bwinner at Corklastyear when with CharlesByrnes, he waspicked up for £20,000 in the Doncastersales ring during thesummer, while Sunday’s Ca st leto wn -G eo ghe ga n winner Hardline wononhis first runfor new ownerAlex Hutter,one of Elliott’sracing secretaries

They will be joined in the open division this season by other notable veteran track performers in dual Grade 1 winner TheStoryteller and for mer Wo rld Hu rd le runner-up AlphaDes Obeaux, while ItsAll Guessworkand EverythingNow,two of Elliott’s open winners from last season, arealsohunter certificated beforetheir return this season

Wrong courseagain

Somewhat unusually, for the second fixture in arow at Toomebridge thewinnerofa mares’ maiden at the venue wasdisqualifiedafter taking the wrongcourse.

In 2020 when the courselast held afixture, theGraham McKeever-trainedRockedUp wasdisqualified from the openingfour-year-oldmares’ maiden after takingthe wrong course on the bend into the back straight.

Flash forward 24 months and asimilar fate befell Kalnoo in the five-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden at theAntrim venue, as SamCurling’s mare wasfirst past thewinning post onlytobedisqualifiedfor makingthe samemistakeas RockedUptwo yearsprevi ously

Although it is the responsi bility of riderstofamiliarise themselves with the correct layoutofthe course, this is the second time in as many fixtures at the courseahorsehas taken the wrongroute at thetop of the track.

Perhapsadditionaltapecan be added in future yearsto clar if yt he sli gh tly more unusual course layout at the top of the hill to avoidfurther unnecessary mishaps.

career paths outside of racing, butI just knew in my heart that it wasn’twhat Iwanted; horses were in my bloodand I wanted to work with them in some capacity.

Itook outmy point-to-point handler’s permit in 2015 and Iwas lucky enough to train my firstwinner the following year in Ballyraggetwith Intheghetto

It wasa fabulous day, that wasmegetting to liveout my passion again, and itmeantsomuch to me Sundaywas abusyone for me as Iwas double jobbing. I took over frommymother as

point-to-pointsecretaryin2017 after my father passed away Sheisalwaysthereinthe background supportingme and it wasnice that we were able to make apresentation on Sundaytomarkthe 45-plus years that sheput into the role Sheknewnothingabout the presentation, so it wasa lovely surprisefor her Ialsohad twohorses runningonSundayontop of everythingelseand both horses ranbrilliantly.

We were thrilledwith Cappajune Ladyinthe winners’race.Roundingthe bend we thoughtwehad it,but JoannaWalton gave herhorse averycannyride to beat us on Lights AreGreen

Shelooks to be averygood rider,but it wasasgood as a winfor us though.She is

ownedbyBritish ownersMark and Joan Davies and they came over to see herrun Cappajune Ladycame outof the race really well and she takes her racingverywell. She seems to likethe trackin Loughrea and her owners are stillover, so hopefully we will runagain on Sunday.

Ihavefivehorses in at the moment. Ifocus on asmall number of nice horses to work away with for the season and then Idosomebreaking and pre-trainingtoo.

Traininggives me ahuge satisfaction and it’s allthe sweeterconsideringall the injuries Ihad and the thoughtI maynever be able to work with horses again. It’s onwardsand upwardsnow

Cheltenham

HEATHER KIERNAN WAS TALKING TO EOGHAIN WARD

Champions Bowe and O’Neill make their intentions clear with opening-day double

REIGNING champion trainer

Colin Bowe and champion rider Barry O’Neill wasted no time in getting off the mark for the new season when they landed the opening Marshall Fleming Memorial four-yearold ma re s’ ma iden wi th

Sheeka Supreme

For Bowe it was a repeat of Branson Missouri’s victory in 2020 when the fixture was last staged She has now won twice over hurdles.

Sheeka Supreme put the experience gained from two second-place efforts last spring to good effect, as she went on to beat the Aidan Fitzgeraldtrained Brendas Asking by six lengths

Ha lf an ho ur la ter the champions added the geldings’ equivalent in the age group to their opening day haul when Waspy proved too good for his five rivals in the Dennison Com me rc ial s-sp ons or ed event.

Making every yard of the running under O’Neill, the Doyen gelding who is out of a

half-sister to the stable’s former five-time track winner Our Victoria, was aided by his expe rience from the spring which allowed him to post a number of slick jumps throughout

He then held off the late attentions of the fast-finishing Kap Chidley to win by a head.

“That was a great way to start the new season and we were very happy with the perfor mances that both of the horses put in,” Bowe said.

“They both had good form from the end of last season which stood to them and I would imagine they are likely to be sold now.”

Bo we ha d hop es of completing a hat-trick on the season’s opening card with last season’s Ballingarry runner-up Gouazec in the concluding James Kernohan & Sons older geldings’ maiden.

However, the Bertie Finnridden six-year-old had to settle for the runner-up spot again as he proved no match for Ca ro line Mc Ca ldi n’s Ballymagee.

That Kayf Tara gelding had caught the eye on his last start in the pointing sphere at Kirk istown last year and, having sin ce be en pl ace d ov er hurdles at Catterick, he took full advantage of the opportu nity as he went on to land a five-length victor y in the colo ur s of th e wi nnin g ha ndler ’s hu sb and Alan McCaldin

The victory completed a do uble for ri der Br ian Dunleavy who had earlier teamed up with the Ellen Doyle-trained Master Splinter to land the Dennison JCB winner-of-one

The five-year-old was unsur prisingly sent off the shortpriced favourite after a game victory at Dromahane in May and he took full advantage of a winnable opportunity by beating twice-raced maiden Ballyrashane by a comfortable three lengths

“It is great to see the horses are healthy and well,” Doyle’s brother James said. “This fellow won a nice maiden at

Star performance

Kalnoo had the best form in the book and she should swiftly gain compensation for her disqualification

Dromahane and has done his job well there.

“We will see how he comes out of the race, and obviously they are all for sale, but we wouldn’t rule out another winners’ race for this fellow as he did that very well.”

The Doyle siblings have typically found fortune in the autumn campaign and that could well be the case again this year on the evidence of their Toomebridge double, which was initiated by the victory of Haddock De Grissay in the RayMart five-year-old geldings’ maiden.

Th e Ma re sc a So rr en to gelding entered the race having produced a career best when finishing sixth in a Kilbeggan bumper in mid-August He built on that on his return to

the pointing fields when pulling clear of the Wilson Dennison-owned pair of Bally geary and Forcing Bull from the final fence to justify market support.

The five-length success was particularly notable for Cork native Darragh Higgins, as it saw him record his first success on what was also his first ride for the Baltimore stable

“Darragh is a good lad and he did very well there,” James Doyle said “He had to get it right to get to the leader and I couldn’t have asked any more of him.”

Five of the six races on the card went to Wexford yards, with the Monbeg stables of the recently married Sean Doyle being awarded the Tattersalls NH fiveyear-old and upwards mares’ maiden after a stewards’ inquiry

The track-placed Kalnoo passed the post first but her success proved short lived as Sam Curling’s Kalanisi mare was judged to have taken the wrong course entering the back straight.

That resulted in newcomer Frankly Fine being awarded a one-length victory for Mayglass rider Jack Hendrick.

(Above) Runners in the four year-old mares’ maiden at Toomebridge get the new point-to-point season under way; (below left) Darragh Higgins lands the five-year old geldings’ maiden aboard Haddock De Grissay; (below right) Waspy completes opening-day doubles for Barry O’Neill and Colin Bowe

Hardline gives Galligan the perfect start to riding career

IT was a memorable day for 19-year-old Kells jockey Luke Galligan, who won on his first point-to-point ride at the We st mea th Fo xh ou nds meeting.

Victory came on the Gordon Elliott-trained eight-time track wi nn er Ha rd li ne in t he Shortall Transport novice riders’ open.

Galligan, who had ridden in one bumper previously, had a partner who had won a Grade 1 Limerick novice chase in December 2018 for former owner Gigginstown Stud, and that talent helped the ten-year old beat odds-on favourite Some Man by two and a half lengths

Hardline always travelled well as Some Man and Mount Pelier took the four runners along. He made his way to the fore on the incline from three out and was still harried by Some Man when throwing the faster leap at the final fence, before coming clear on the run-in.

“He gave me a savage spin and he got a great jump at the last,” Galligan said of the former 161-rated chaser, who was bought by Alexandra Hu tt er for £8,000 at la st month’s Goffs UK September sale

Warren Ewing’s owned-andtrained Rock My Way justified the promise of his third at Loughanmore last Easter by winning the Tattersalls NH four-year-old maiden under Dara McGill.

The towering gelding was always positioned on the pace on the outer as he vied for supremacy with last season’s Ballyknock fourth Painted Wolf

There was little to separate the pair until the winning son of Ge taway ed ged into a slight advantage before two out.

Runner-up Painted Wolf was still in there pitching in a close second when not having too much room on the inner briefly at the last where Rock The Way was the faster in the air That allowed him to come clear on the ru n-in to be at Ba rr y O’Neil’s mount by two and a half lengths

“He’s a good horse who ran well last season and I thought I had left him short here today as he wa s ca rr yin g a bit of condition,” Ewing said of Rock My Way, who is from a strong French distaff family which includes Grade 1-winning chaser So French

Star performance

Hornet Nolimit changed stables over the summer and produced a much-improved performance to suggest his maiden victory is close

“I bo ugh t him fr o m a neighbour of mine, Barbara Hanna, as a three-year-old and he’ll now be sold.”

There was a real family success in the Galileo Chrome five and six-year-old geldings’

maiden as Hills Of Glory fulfilled last season’s promise by opening his account for the father-and-son team of owner trainer John Walsh and his son and rider James

Ri dden pa tien tly, the gelding, who had been fourth on his Dromahane debut, picked up the running at the last to see off the grey Hornet Nolimit

“I was riding him forward last season, but sat in today and it worked better. He’s a horse who wants soft ground,” Walsh

jnr said of the close relation to Ferny Hollow.

Nineteen-year-old Alan O’Sullivan, a first year biological sciences student at Cork

In st it ute of Te chnol og y, partnered a third career winner on his uncle Eugene O’Sullivan’s Headscratcher in the Mullingar Autos older maiden.

He ads cr at ch er , who overcame some jumping errors early on, picked up the running after three-out to return with four lengths to spare over Cool Captain.

“He’s a horse who has always worked well and we put cheek pieces on him today,” the winning rider said. “It’s great that he has won as his owner Barry O’Sullivan passed away last year and his daughter Jemma rides out with us at home.”

The five-year-old maiden Lights Are Green, runner-up in a Loughrea adjacent maiden last term, made his initial start for Shanballymore-based owner-trainer John O’Donovan a victorious one by bravely coming a second time with Joanna Walton to collect the Brosna Paints winners-of-two.

Having led until before three out, Lights Are Green then arrived with a renewed effort to collar Cappajune Lady at the last before powering clear to beat Heather Kiernan’s repre sentative by five lengths

The Leslie Young-trained Lough Na Fooey, having shown promise in summer maiden hurdles, went to the head of affairs with Johnny Barry two out to see off Ball inclay Court in the colours of Linus Fahy in the five- and six year-old mares’ maiden.

(Above) Hardline gives Luke Galligan his first pointing winner on his debut ride between the flags; (left) Rock My Way wins despite trainer Warren Ewing believing he had left him short of work