Point-To-Point Weekly 18-01-2023

DerekO’Connor

Straight to thePoint Bravemansgamebreakthrough forex-pointers in King George

LASTweekIwrote about the influence of Irish point-to-pointgraduates on the novice hurdling scene

Beforeweleave the Christmas period behind Iwanttolookbackat afew of the main chases in the last weekofthe old year

Once again, horses from apointto-pointbackground excelled. Best of all wasthe King George winner Bravemansgame,who made it six wins from sevenracesoverfences in winningthe Kempton feature.

TheFrench-bred seven-year-old, winner of aLingstown maiden on the weekend beforethe 2019 Cheltenham Festival,isthe firstexIrish pointertowin the King George since Best Mate in 2002.

Closer to home,Conflated wasthe star of the showinthe Savills Chase at Leopardstown. Gordon Elliott’s Gigginstown-owned geldingwas one of thelastpoint-to-pointhorses to passthrough the experthands of Eddie Hales beforeheleftthe racing worldbehind to starta new career in the hospitality business at Mikey Ryan’sinCashel.

Youcould write abookabout Eddie’s lifewith horses. He wasa masteratspottingtalentand educatingyoung horses. Mind you, Conflated possibly wasn’tthe usual sound-jumpingadvertisementfor his famous nurserywhen he fell in a maiden wonbythe talentedAndy Dufresne at BorrisHouse almostfive years ago.

By allaccounts,hewas atricky horsetodealwithearlyinhis career, butEddie sawhis potential and he matured gradually to fulfil it brilliantly for Gordon.

It wasa shock when he wonlast season’sIrish Gold Cup, buthis latest Grade 1victorywas definitelynot a surprise.

Stayingwith the Elliottteam, Gerri Colombe looksaserious talent in the making. TrainedbyColin Bowe and ridden by BarryO’Neill when winningfirst time outatLingstown three seasonsago,heremains unbeaten in six starts under rules and wasanimpressive winner of the Grade 1Guinness Faugheen Novice Chase, the highlightofLimerick’s Christmas meeting.

Thebig handicap in Britain over Christmas wasthe Welsh National, runinverytestingconditions

Thepointingcontingent came to the fore. Thefinish wasfoughtout by twohorseswho began their careers in Wexford. TheTwo Amigos, an exMick Goff horse, beat TheBig Breakaway,a Quakerstown maiden winner for Donnchadh Doyle.

ThePeter Fahey-trainedthirdThe BigDog is an Aidan Fitzgerald

product,and threeofthe other four finishers alsostartedoff in points, Truckers Lodge(BattO’Connell), Movethechains (PaulCashman) and Wouldyoubewell (Tim Townend).

TheTwo Amigoshas an unusual history. He’s an 11-year-old whowon amaiden at Ballysteenin2016 and wasboughtbyDavid Pipe for €30,000 at the Goffs Punchestown sale shortlyafter

He went hurdling and didn’t manage to win. He then joinedNicky Martin, and she sent him pointinginBritain. He wonfiveinarow beforegoingbacktothe trackand making his way up the handicap ranks.

Seeingaveteran likehim gettinga bigpaydayshows howIrish point-topointerscan be very durable horses.

Open winners staketheir claims for Cheltenham

Cheltenham is comingintofocus and the festival is alikely targetfor both open race winners from last weekend.

Chris’s Dream,owned by Brian Acheson and trainedbyHenryde Bromhead, completedhis qualification by winningunder Maxine O’Sullivan at the Killeagh fixture at Carrigarostig,addingtohis successatMoigSouth in November

Maxine rode him on his first run for her father Eugene in the Goffs Land RoverBumperin2016. He won amaiden at Ballysteen andalsowon over hurdles for the Lombardstown trainer beforejoiningthe Robcour team.Hewon the Troytown in 2019 and twoGrade 2races,includingthe RedMills at Gowran.

Like severalother former Gradedstandardhorsesinthe recentpast, he’s been rejuvenated in points.His

career hadbeenonthe slide sincehe wasbeatenbyThe Storyteller in the Grade 1atDownRoyal in 2020.

In contrast, ItsOnThe Line,who I rode to winthe open at Turtulla,isa young horsewho hasrun only in points and hunter chases.Hestarted off with Ellen Doylelastwinter beforejoiningEmmet Mullins,who wonhunter chases with him at Cork and Tipperaryinthe spring.

In the autumn campaign he was placedthree times,includinglosing to TheStoryteller by ashortheadat Ballycrystal. He wonwell on Sunday and is progressingonthe rightlines Afine long-termprospect, he’s a half-brother to Monbeg Dude,who wonthe Welsh National and finished thirdtoManyClouds in the 2015 Grand National.

Good to see the ‘JT’ series being well supported Thelatestrace in the John Thomas McNamara series tookplace at Punchestown on Monday. It’s good to seetheseevents, designed to provide opportunities for qualified riders who stillclaim 7lb,beingwell supportedbytrainers.

Joey Dunne,who alsorodethe winner of anoviceriders’race for Denis MurphyatTinahelyonthe Sundaybeforelast, took the Punchestown eventonThe King Of Prs for Gavin Cromwell.

Therewere16runners,and many of the riders involved were familiar faces from the point-to-pointcircuit Theseriesisaddingtotheir raceridingexperience and hasbeena greatinitiative. Thefirst winner was MichaelO’Sullivan, nowmakinga bigname for himself as a professional.

Knockanard’snew banks coursedeserves backing Next month’sKnockanardmeeting will be abig dayfor the popularCork venuewiththe unveilingofits new bankscourse. I’mdelighted to see an old tradition revived at avenue formerlyowned by the late Pats Moore, atruepoint-to-pointman who hadhorses with Sean Aherne Thelandisnow in thehands of JimmyO’Leary, afarrier and breeder who hasfillies with PatDoyle Congratulationstoall associated with the project, andIhopetheyget abig turnoutonFebruary12.

‘Byall accounts Conflated wasatricky horsetodeal with earlyin hiscareerbut EddieHales saw hispotential’

Bravemansgameand HarryCobden enda20-year hiatus for Irishpointersinthe King GeorgeVIChaseatKempton

ALAN CROWHURST(GETTY IMAGES)

DenisCummins on thechallenges, joys

frustrationsof buying andselling storehorses

ILOVED watching Tahmuras winningthe Tolworth Hurdle this month.He’sahorse I hadboughtprivately in France from his breeder Lesley Stewart.

Donnchadh Doylebought him from me for €10,000 at the Derbysalein2020 and I couldn’t believethe price he gothim for [£68,000].

He was a very well-made horseand Iwas madabout him goingtothe sale,but there were no English buyers allowed into the sale due to the Covid restrictions at the time,soDonnchadh Doyle haditall to himself

As arule,wewould always sell. Until very recently, I’d never hadaracehorse.Ihave hadone or twosince.Wehad Thermusa,aKayfTarafilly that Donnchadh wonapoint-topointwith in Dawstown last year and we sold her to Ruth Jefferson.

Shewon firsttime outover hurdles for her and then unfortunately she brokeher

‘Young horses have gone very dear here andit’s fierce hard to compete’

hind legatSedgefield in November whenshe wasgoing to winher thirdrace in arow

Producinghorsesfor the storesales would be the main business here at Rathurtin Stud butwedohave50cattle on the farmwith alittle bit of tillage too.

IgotoFrancethree or four times ayear to buyfoals that we then sell as three-year-olds I’ve beengoingtherefor the lastten or 12 years

At the time,therewas better value to be found in France When Istartedgoing over we probably weren’t goodat gettingthe morefashionable sires butonce youget them by areasonably fashionablesire they seemedtosellthat bit better when you broughtthem over herefor the store sales

Younghorses have gone very dear hereand it’s fierce hard to compete.You could find yourself giving€25,000 for an averagecolt foal now, then you could bringhim to aLand Roversale and all you areable to getis €31,000 or €32,000. The moneyisnot therewiththat price

As arule Idon’t keep horses. Iused to work for PadgeBerry years ago. WhenIwas ridingout and breakingthem it wasmy original idea to go down that path,but Iended up selling

and sworethat Iwould always sell them if Icould.

Ihad no business goingthe longroad myself.You buy thesehorses and when you go to the store sales you want to bringmoney home instead of horses.I have a tendencyto sell them, win, loseor draw

We sold Fiddlerontheroofand God’sOwn for abad price and we sold First Flow for €4,500. They allwentontobeGrade 1 winners

When theydoturnout to be

good like that I’mhappy for the ladsand youhopethey would come backtoyou the nexttime.

We alsohavefiveorsix broodmaresand at Knockmullen Housein November two horses that we bred here wonthe four-yearold maidensonthe card

Future Perfectwon for Denis Murphyand Flash In ThePark for Donnchadh Doyle. That is ourlocal trackand Iwould usually have been therebut I wasoverinFranceonthe day.

They were born within a weekofeachother.Isoldone at the Land Roverand oneat the July Sale in Tattersalls.But it is unusual for them both to come outofone place and win four-year-old maidensonthe same card

My sonLukehas anew stallion, Boscaccio.He’sason of MountNelsonand is standing at Sean Kinsella’s Knockhouse Stud. He’s afine big bayhorsesoitwill be interestingtosee what type of horsehegets.Wehavesenta couple of marestohim and I’mlookingforward to seeing thosefoals

Thepoint-to-pointlads have changed the market and all the localladshereare great.

Harley Dunne boughttwo from me lastyear,LiamKenny boughtone and Denis Murphy boughta couple too.

We will have between25and 30 for the store sales this year and hopefully the boys will come backand go again.

LismoreHarriersloselandmarkfixture

THIS weekbegan on adisappointingnote for the Lismore Ha rri ers po in t- to- po in t commit tee when it wa s confirmedtheir fixture at Dungarvan hadfailedan inspection and wascancelled due to unsuitable ground conditions

Therewas greatanticipation ahead of the meeting, which wasscheduledfor Sunday, as it wasdue to mark areturn of the fixture after atwo-year absence from the calendar Alwaysa bigdrawfor spectators,Sunday’sfixturewas also due to mark areturn to the original layoutwhichhad for so longbeenassociatedwith the venueand waspopular with racegoers whohad theperfect viewingpointonthe sloped bank in the home straight.

It would have beenthe first time since 2015 that the layout wasused, with the unavailability of land responsible for a number of alterationstothe course configurations in the years that followed,includinga figure-of-eightlayoutatone stage.

Ballycrystal lefttofly theflagwithout open TheDungarvan cancellation lea ve sj us to ne fix tu re remainingonthe weekend schedule,the Ballinagore Harriers meeting at Ballycrystal.

Takingplace on thelandof

opport-

However, on the same dayan open hunter chasetakes place

Theblankweekend in the open division should bulk up the number of runners in that category in comingweeks after adisappointingstarttothe spring campaign.

Therehavebeenonly 26 runners acrossthe six spring opens this season, with a match race at Dromahane on December30followedbyfive runners at Ballindenisk,six at

Aghabullogue,fiveatTinahely, fiveatTurtulla and three contestingthe Carrigarostig open lastSunday

Supportersoftheseracesfor older horses will hopethe small fields have beenbecause connections aregivingtheir horses amid-season break rather than beingput off by the impact of Grade1 winners in the autumn.

Weekend shock ...no Queally winners!

Such hasbeenthe length of the phenomenal runofsuccess the Decla nQueally ya rd ha s enjoyedthis season that last weeke nd wasthe firsto f pointingaction whichfeatured runnersfromthe stable not winningatleast one race.

Lord Schnitzelcame closest to upholdingthe Queally

winningrun stretching across sevenweekends whenthe geldingchased home ItsOn TheLine in the Turtulla open.

Bookmakers,unsurprisingly, have beenfearingrunners from the Waterfordoutfit, with 15 of their last16runnerssent off at thetop of the market

The one Queally-trained non-favourite in that listwas Ro cky ’s Ho wy aw ho wa s returned 2-1 whenwinning by 24 lengths at Aghabullogue on his open debut.

No winnersatthe weekend for Queally or Gordon Elliott, who arethe season’smost successful handlers,leftthe pair just twoclear of the reigningchampion handler Colin Bowe

By the MilestoneStables pr opr ieto r’so wn lofty standards he hadbeenexperiencingsomethingofaquieter rununtil hisCarrigarostig successonSundaywithBarrabooka

Bowe hadenjoyed astrong starttothe season when almost half his winners coming in October.

However, by thenatureofa tradingpoint-to-pointyard such as his, apersonalbest campaign of 46 winnerslast season haslikely left his stable shortofautumn ammunition, somethinghewill hopetoput rightwithareplenishedteam of four-year-olds from next month

Wexford handlerMatthew Flynn O’Connor and his family, the fixture does not have an open lightweight, leavingthe weekend without an

unity in the pointingfield for thosehorses.

at Thurles, which provides an alternativefor opengrade performers

andfrequent

DENIS CUMMINS WAS TALKING TO EOGHAIN WARD

Barrabooka and BarryO’Neill (near side)score at Carrigarostig to put ColinBowetwo behind the leadersinthe handlers’table

HEAL YR AC ING

Riders

O’Sullivan and Chris’s Dream reunited to seal place at Cheltenham

CHRIS’S DREAM sealed his qualification for the Cheltenham Festival hunter chase in March when winning for the second time this season in the Coolmara Stables open.

A Grade 2 winner, Chris’s Dream had beaten Aloneamongmillions by 22 lengths at Mo ig South se ve n wee ks earlier, but the Brian Achesonowned 11-year-old was faced with a greater challenge in this three-r unner race by the northern raider Welsh Saint.

Howe ve r, altho ugh the winning margin was only three lengths it was the Henry de Bromhead-trained Mahler ge ldin g who pr ov ed far superior to win comfortably under Maxine O’Sullivan.

“It is great to be back on Chris after winning on him at Moig South,” O’Sullivan said. “We had him at home as a young horse so I know him very well and I’m delighted to be reunited with him

“It wasn’t ideal making the running, he was lazy in front, but he loved it and he did it really well. I’m delighted to have been given the opportunity to ride him today. It’s a real

Star performance

Chris’s Dream appeared to have plenty left in reserve as he added a second open success to his tally for the season

treat to ride a horse like Chris.”

Mick Goff may have endured a frustrating afternoon at Aghabullogue a week earlier when emerging from that venue with two runners-up but he had better luck on his return to Cork when takin g the Hurley’s SuperValu Midelton five-year-old mares’ maiden with Calli Black

The Califet mare had been in front when coming down five fences out on her debut at Dr om ah ane in Ma y and although encountering much more testing conditions on her return she proved four lengths too good for Matthew Flynn O’Connor’s newcomer Femme Magnifique

Winning rider Dan Nevin indicated she would now go to the Tattersalls Cheltenham sale on January 28.

There was further success for We xfor d st ab les in the

following Tattersalls NH fiveyear-old geldings’ maiden when Barrabooka led home a clean sweep of the placings for the county’s representatives

One of five newcomers in the eight-strong line-up, the Presenting gelding arrived at his competitive debut having cost €80,000 as a foal being out of a sister to the ill-fated threetime Grade 1 winner Oscar Whisky, and he was strongly tested on his initial outing.

Ellen Doyle’s Milan AC kept him honest up the run-in but it was a challenge he was able to overcome by a length and a half with the assistance of the reigning champion Barr y O’Neill.

“He was a nice horse at home and he is a very big horse with loads of scope,” handler Colin Bowe said. “The slow ground probably suited him because he was a bit green but he got the hang of it as the race went on. We’re delighted with that and he will go to the sales in Cheltenham now.”

Ma ma ke r ga ve lo ca l supporters something to cheer when she won the Drury Tea and Coffee & Gain Equine

(Above) Milan AC takes the field along in the five-yearold geldings’ maiden won by Barrabooka; (right, top) Calli Black and Dan Nevin land the mares’ maiden; (right) Glenbeg Express and Darragh Allen lead from Carrig Wells in the mares’ winners-of-two

Nutrition older mares’ maiden for novice riders

Ciaran Fennessy had elected to ru n her for a se con d weekend in succession after she had come a cropper at the final fence a week earlier at Aghabullogue, but she made amends when Alan O’Sullivan guided her to a six-length victory over Cailin Beag

“We took a bit of a chance and turned her out quickly but she won well and Alan gave her a terrific ride,” said Liam Fennessy, father of the winning handler

“She has had two runs pretty quick so we’ll give her a month and then go for a mares’ winners’ race She is owned by Patsy Murphy from Mayobridge who’s a great supporter of ours

“He can’t be here today as he had a bit of an accident but he

is with us in heart.”

Glenbeg Express also made amends for a recent late exit when the Ballindenisk penultimate-fence faller was two lengths too good for stable debutante Like Ta Ma in the ITBA mares’ winners-of-two.

Pat Crowley’s eight-year-old was always to the fore under Darragh Allen to give the Cork handler his first win of the season and she is likely to be aimed at another winners’ event in the coming weeks

The final fence again proved to be the undoing of Good Friday Fairy as the Boulta casualty held a share of the advantage coming to the last in the Fogarty Bros Car Sales and Pe gu s Ho rs e Fe ed older geldings’ maiden.

However his second consecutive final-fence departure pave d the way fo r Ma ri e Harding to continue her good season when Fionns Choice came home in front under Joanna Walton.

Mullins targets festival for impressive Its On The Line

Star performance

EMMET MULLINS is eyeing the Cheltenham Fe sti va l hunter chase for Its On The Line after the six-year-old beat Lord Schnitzel in the fiverunner Hotel Minella open.

The latter had returned to winning ways at Ballindenisk last month but the Klaus Koentopp-owned ten-year-old from the all-conquering Declan Queally yard was put in his place by chief market rival Its On The Line

The Presenting gelding was bought for £8,000 in the virtual ThoroughBid sales last year as a twice-raced maiden, but not for the first time the Bagenalstown-based Mullins has found significant improvement from a new addition to his stable Derek O’Connor always appeared confident on Its On The Line, twice a winner in hunter chases last spring, as the pair drew clear of Lord Schnitzel to win by seven lengths, bringing the jockey to within one of the 1,300-winner milestone in points

“That’s great as he’s been knocking on the door without getting his head in front this season,” Mullins said of Its On The Line “That will do his confidence the world of good. We’ll head back hunter chasing soon enough with Cheltenham being the target.”

O’ Connor ha d earlier combined with his brother Paurick to land the Tattersalls NH & Meadowview Stables five-year-old geldings’ maiden with Rockstown Native

An encouraging fourth on his debut in the Kirkistown race which was won by the America-bound The Hero Next Door in No ve mb er, the Pe te r Molony-owned Califet gelding benefited from a change of tactics which saw him race prominently throughout to account for newcomer Westerninthepark by five lengths

Pat Doyle has introduced the likes of subsequent Cheltenham Festival winner Bob Olinger at his local fixture, and he looks to have unearthed another talented individual after Sainte Baol won the Shanaville Stables and Nicholastown Stud five-year-old mares’ maiden as she pleased Bought for €115,000 by Gordon Elliott at the 2021

Derby sale, the daughter of Saint Des Saints is out of a Turgeon mare who won twice in her native France, and gave an exhibition of jumping from the front under Pa King to account for Hollow Rodger by nine and a half lengths

Maike Magnussen added to the success of local stables on the card when she continued her successful campaign by taking the Rathvin Stables and Modified Vaping winners-ofone with Busty Boy

The Ivawood gelding had opened his account on his first start for the German-born Templemore handler at the same venue in November, and having gained plenty of credit when ch asi ng home the talented Keep Me Posted at Ballindenisk on New Year’s Day, he enhanced his reputation with a wide-margin win.

John Barry never had to ask the six-year-old a serious question as the pair inflicted a 24- len gth de fea t on last month’s Tattersalls winner Lillys Girl. It was the handler’s fourth winner, a strike-rate of 50 per cent for the season and she indicated that Busty Boy would either be sold or run in another winners’ contest.

Philip Fenton was a third Tipperary-based handler to get on the sc or eshe et when Bloomhill gained a deserved

victory in the Dalton Transport and Susan Archdeacon Town and County Interiors older geldings’ maiden.

The six-year-old finished third at Lingstown on his debut in November and after chasing home Twoconduit at Boulta he completed the sequence when Eoin O’Brien guided him to a three-and-a-half-length defeat of John Walsh’s Borris House runner-up Forest Breeze

“We were hoping he’d do something like that today,” Fenton said of Bloomhill, who was greeted in the winner’s enclosure by his owner Ann Derwin whose family are well known in equestrian circles in the midlands

“His two previous runs were of a very good standard and we’ll most likely head on to a maiden hurdle with him now.”

Benignitas had come up against subsequent Group 1 wi nner s He lvic Dr ea m, Ch am per s El ys ee s an d Santiago when contesting twoyear-old races on the Flat for Jim Bolger in 2019, but it was

Its On The Line and Derek O’Connor take the open; (right) Benignitas and Troy Walsh win the older mares’ maiden; (below right) Busty Boy and Johnny Barry take the winners-of-one for Maike Magnussen

Sainte Baol oozed class throughout under Pa King and looks a future blacktype performer

the Clonmel Harriers P2P Com mit te e old er ma re s’ maiden at Turtulla which saw her make the breakthrough Now ha ndle d by Du st y Sheehy for his friend and fellow Kilkenny man Joe Walsh, the Fracas mare took a big step for ward from a 33-length defeat by Killybegs Jet Lady on

her latest start at Borris House last month by beating the experienced All Loved Up by five lengths under Troy Walsh Th e Gr ai gu en am an ag h handler, who has nine recently tu rne d fo ur-y ear-olds in training, reported his first point winner of the season would now probably be sold.

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.