Point-To-Point Weekly 3-05-2023

ELUSIVE TALENT

Elusive Prince provesimpossible to catch as he makes awinning debut at Dawstown Reports, pages2-3

DEREK O’CONNOR

‘It was amazing to watch Feronily land the Grade 1 Champion Novice Chase less than six months after I rode him to win amaiden at Rathcannon’ Page 4

Yeats, the Champion NH Sire of 2021/22 and 2022/23

BOLD ENOUGH moved to within one of the season’s leading horse, Rocky’s Howya, when landing his sixth victory this term in the Tattersalls open.

David Christie’s eight-yearold made his debut in open company only in February but the Jeremy gelding has not looked back, winning six successive races to join La Feline in joint second place

As regular partner Barry O’Neill was suspended, Bertie Finn retained the ride, having guided Bold Enough to success at Fairyhouse eight days earlier

With Bold Enough stamping his authority on the race off the home be nd, the wi nning margin of three lengths over Stranger Danger did no justice to his dominance in winning for a fourth time during April.

Star performance

Bold Enough made light work of respected rivals to gain a sixth win this season

“We’ll sneak in another race,” Christie said. “He’s taking it well and is happy, and while it’s making him happy we’ll keep running him We do very little with him at home and he is an ideal horse to do this with.”

Dara McGill moved a step closer to the under-21 title when winning the Barclay Communications geldings’ maiden on Mount Wilson

The Telescope-sired six-yearold had returned from a season on the sidelines wi th a promising effort at Oldtown in February. It may have been a surprise it took him a further

four runs to get his head in front after that encouraging display, but he duly opened his account when beating Tareefa Boy by two and a half lengths.

The Maghera rider had earlier teamed up with fellow Derry native Noel Kelly to land a ga mb le on I Can Only Imagine in the Dennison JCB five-year-old geldings’ maiden.

The €6,000 purchase was confidently delivered with a good jump two out and from there the 2-1 favourite held fellow newcomer Largy Pearl to win by two lengths

“He’ll probably be better on better ground but he’s a fine horse,” Kelly said. “We’ll sell him now. He’s very classy, as good as I have.”

Largy Pearl’s rider Stephen Connor matched McGill’s

MUSKERRY AT DROMAHANE SUNDAY

LUKE MURPHY dominated the sixth and final meeting of the season at Dromahane with a double at the Cork venue to bring his weekend haul of winners to three after success at Moira 24 hours earlier

The Inch rider completed his double in the featured INHSC Winners Final for maidens at the start of the season – a race with a generous €3,250 bonus –on the Liam Kenny-trained Gray Rock. Victorious earlier in the season at Borris House and Ballycrystal, the seven-year-old got into a lovely rhythm in front in this five-runner contest He seemed to have a battle on his plate when headed two out by the Dr om ah ane ma iden winner Barton Snow However, the latter edged right-handed approaching the last and lost valuable momentum, leaving his French-bred rival to take command and beat him going away by six and a half lengths in the colours of his trainer’s wife Noeleen Kenny.

“Gray Rock is a big, raw horse who’s improving the whole time,” stable representative Darragh Brennan said. “It was always the plan to give him a

Star performance

The French-bred Jayapura powered clear for a smart 11-length debut success

break after he finished third at Castlelands and to then come here for this race He could now go for a hunter chase.”

Murphy initiated his double on Bootfullofbags in the mares’ maiden and it was a first winner for handler Harry Kelly.

The seven-year-old, who had pulled up in her first two runs this season, moved through to dispute the running from the third-last. She was clearly in command approaching the last and bounded clear of The Kids Choice by four lengths

“We’ve been waiting all year for nice ground and today is the first day we got it She could now go for a winners’ race,”

Kelly said of Bootfullofbags, who represents his neighbour Edel Fitzgerald from Rathcoole outside Fethard.

The Colin Bowe-trained newcomer Chosen Judge won a competitive four-year-old geldings’ maiden in the hands of 19-year-old Eoin Staples for whom this was a third winner

achievement with a double initiated by the William Crawford-trained Spice Diva in the Albert Bartlett mares’ maiden.

The six-year-old had steadily improved with each of her three completed outings and she dug deep to run down longtime leader Lady Corrib in the dying strides to open her account by a neck.

“We’ll go to the track with her now,” Crawford said. “The boys who have her also bred her.”

The success of Annaghbeg in the Wilsons Auctions winnersof-two completed a double for Connor and Crawford as the

Conduit gelding brought up a hat-trick of victories

It may have taken six efforts to open his account, but the bay has not looked back since his Kirkistown maiden victory in March, as he proved eight lengths too good for the longabsent Broughshane maiden winner Ballybentragh.

It was a much tighter affair in the Dennison Commercials four-year-old maiden in which seven lengths covered the first five finishers, led home by newcomer El Granjero

A €42,000 purchase at last year’s Derby sale, the Peter

Flood-owned-and-trained bay was still in sixth jumping the penultimate fence However, Luke Murphy’s patient tactics paid dividends as he came home best of all to deny Feeling Festive by a head.

New owners will now be sought, with El Granjero supplying the double Group 1 winner Youmzain, now a resident at Rathbarry Stud, with his first four-year-old maiden winner in the sphere.

‘We’ll sneak in another’ – Bold Enough hits six Murphy leaves with a boot full of winners

Jayapura produces a highquality performance under Brian Lawless in the four-yearold mares’ maiden

maiden on the Grand National winner Corach Rambler in September 2020, was on the scoresheet when landing the five-year-old geldings’ maiden on the John Paul Brennantrained Ivegotdapower

Placed third on two previous occasions, Ivegotdapower disputed the running and held on well as the line loomed to deny Zmiinyi by a short head

On an excellent afternoon for Co u nt y We xford-tr aine d horses, Donnchadh Doyle’s Jayapura impressed with a bloodless debut victory in the four-year-old mares’ maiden.

It was plain sailing once the French-bred was urged on by Brian Lawless approaching two out and she swept clear to beat Chosen Bae by 11 lengths

The Riceal Dunne-trained Gift And Glory atoned for unseating two out here a fortnight earlier by grinding it out from the last with Johnny Barry to beat Leeneys Cross by one and a half lengths in the older geldings’ maiden.

Bold Enough closes the gap on Rocky Howya with a victory in the open at Moira

Chosen Judge was always well positioned and, having picked up the running three out, he seemed set to land a comfortable success.

Foxy Walk, however, went second on the flat and kept on to tremendous effect to get within two lengths of the winning son of Rule Of Law.

Chosen Judge was bred by owner Tom Meagher through his Kedrah House Stud

Staples’s elder brother Sean, who won a Monksgrange

Dunne’sDudeescapes chasingCopper

DO IT LIKE ADUDE continued theexcellent recentrun of owner-trainer HarleyDunneby makingawinningdebutinthe

Ma ste rl in kf iv e-y ea r- old geldings’maiden.

TheLibertarian-sired Do It

Li ke AD ude ,a€ 20,00 0 graduate of the 2021 Tattersalls

Ir eland Ma ys al e, ma de virtually all the runningbefore being joined by runner-up Choose ACopper four out.

Thelatter’s errortwo out hindered his causeasDoIt

Like ADude maintained his momentumtowin by alength

“He’sa bigraw horse who’s tough and honest and he’ll nowgotoasale,”Dunne said of the winner who traces to Dai Williams’2000 Whitbread Gold Cuprunner-up Folly Road.

Do It Like ADude’s rider Tiernan Powerlater combined with Aidan Fitzgerald to land the W&M Kiely winners-of-two on Garm Colombe

Fitted with cheekpieces, Garm Colombe wasanother to

Star performance

ElusivePrince waswell suited by thegoodground as he made awinning debutinacompetitiveheat

benefit from pacesetting duty. Theex-trackperformer gave an assuredround of jumpingover the final three fences to beat Jessmae by oneand ahalf lengthsinthe coloursofhis handler’s wife AshlingDaly.

Col in Bo we an dB ar ry O’Neillcombinedfor adouble, openingwiththe imposing Barrack Village in theSingletons SuperValu mares’ maiden.

Thedaughter of Mount Nelson, arespectable fourth at Tyrella and Comea this season, wasalwaysracing to the fore and went for home four out.

Although not foot-perfect twoout,she assertedtobeat the cons is ten tS tellar Symphonybyfivelengths

“She hasexperience, likes nice ground and I’dimagine

she’ll nowbesold,”Bowesaid of the Milestone Bloodstock Ltd-owned winner,whosedam is ahalf-sister to breeder Robbie Hennessy’sJohn Durkan Chase winner Rubi Light.

TheBowe-O’Neilldouble wascompleted by Theatrical

EAST GALWAY AT STOWLIN SUNDAY

Fr Humphrey keepsthe youthclubincheck again

FR HUMPHREYproved ageis just anumberashecontinued to roll backthe years with his second success in sevendays.

After his 20-1 Dromahane wina week agoinone of the shocksofthe season, the 15-year-old’s victoryinthe ConnollysRed Mills &Garbally Oilopenfor novice riderswas expectedbypunterswho made him 9-4 second favourite.

Making all the runningona horseshe alsoownsand trains, Niamh Hennessy proved last week’ssuccesswas no flukeby beatingnine-year-old Eagle Moon by oneand ahalf lengths

“Hecame outoflastweek absolutelybouncing; he was flying,”Hennessysaid. “I knew the ground would be good here and thoughtitwould takea fair horsetobeathim

“I’m temptedtorun him in a hunter chasebut if he keeps pickingtheseupI’ll just keep him at this level.”

FellowCorkraider Maxine

O’Sullivan enhancedher title claimsasshe movedone ahead of MoiraMcElligottinthe race for the ladies’championship with the debutsuccessof Meetmeinthemorning in the Al HayesSkoda &EastGalway

Stone Supplies older maiden

Sportingthe colours of Clare breeder Eamonn Duggan, the Mamool gelding came outthe

Star performance

DreamShadow stamped her authority on thefield from thelasttowin going away

rightside of aphoto-finish to beat JetPatrolbyahead to supply the Mallowrider with her eighth successthis season.

O’Sullivan went closeto doublingher tally in the ITBA & LiffeyMills mares’ maiden when SeventyEight Team was deniedbyaneckinathrilling finish with Fairland

Adam Ryan’smount made a quickerjumpatthe lastwhich proved keyinallowingthe

RonanTynan-owned Askmare to get herheadinfront after three placedfinishes

“I thoughtshe’d be favourite todayand that sheshouldwin,” handlerAndySlattery said. “We’ll keep her goingand she mightheadtoKilbegganand similar courses this summer.”

Thecrowd at theGalway trackweretreated to another thrillingfinishwhen Minella Missile lived up to his name by rocketingfromanunlikely position to gain alast-gasp victoryinthe Goffs Property five-year-old geldings’maiden.

TheBeatHollowgelding had dropped off themaingroup around the home bend and,

although closinginthe straight, John Nallen’schargewas stillin fourth at thelast. However, he finishedbestofall underBertie Finn to rundow nMonks Meadowinthe final strides

Li ke Mi ne ll aM is sil e, Patrick’s Wells will be offered for sale after landing the Goffs UK Spring Sale &Bleahen family four-year-old maiden.

TheSam Curling-trained, Pa King-ridden geldinghad failed to beat asinglerival on his Ballycahane debutbut he took abig step forward by outbattlingRoyal Jewelbythreequartersofa length in arace in which just twolengths covered the firstfourfinishers

Westmeath owner-breeder

Sean Reilly looks to have another smartmareonhis hands after DreamShadow made awinningstartinthe Tattersalls NH, BleahenFamily four-year-old mares’ maiden.

Ahalf-sister to Grade2 winner ShadowEile,who also sportedReilly’s greenand blacksilks,the Ciaran Murphytrainedmarewas guided by Eoghan Finegantoasix-length defeatoffellownewcomer Youhadmeathello

“She’s going to be asmart fillyintime. She’sstill abig backward filly,”Murphysaid “I’m delightedfor Sean Reilly. He’s the mostloyal owner.”

Getaway inthe CorkRecycling Co Ltdgeldings’maiden. Movingintosecond four out he masteredleaderTuff Days beforethe second-lasttobeat ‘Trixie’ Barry’srunner-up by twoand ahalf lengths

“B ar ry sa id Th ea tr ic al Getawaygavehim agoodfeel

and he’ll nowgofor awinners’ race,” Bowe said of theMaria Kavanagh-owned victor Th ePat Do yle- tr ai ne d newcomer ElusivePrince took acompetitive TattersallsNH four-year-old geldings’maiden in wh ic ha ll 1 1r unner s completed the course

TheElusivePimpernel-sired winnermadesmoothprogress with Pa King three outtotake command at the lastand beat longtime leader Paddy In The Caddy by twolengths “He’sa grand horse andwill nowgointotrainingwith HenrydeBromhead,”Doyle said of the RobertFinneganownedwinner, a€40,000 Derby sale acquisition who is outofa half-sistertodual Grade 1 chasewinnerRoad To Respect. ChrisO’Donovanmoved one ahead of DerekO’Connor [15-14]inthe southern riders’ title race by landingthe Pegus HorseFeeds,FBD &Blarney Ca stl eH otel ma id en on MichaelWinters’ River Vale Runner-upintwo starts at Dromahane last month,the seven-year-old made mostof the runningtodenynewcomer Oscars Leaderinthe silksofthe Kanturk-based Down To The AlleySyndicate.

Do It Like ADude is driven home by Tiernan Power

DerekO’Connor Straight to thePoint ExceptionalEmmet hits the bullseye againwithFeronily

LASTweek’sPunchestown festival lived up to expectations,bringinga successful jumpsseason to an excitingend.Onall fivedays, we sawbrilliant championship performances

In my view, Feronily wasthe star of the show. It wasamazingtowatch the Emmet Mullins-trainedsix-yearoldwin theGrade 1Dooley Insurance Champion Novice Chase less thansix months after Irodehim to winamaidenatRathcannon for Ellmarie Holden on the firstSunday in November

Even when Irodehim to finish thirdtoA Dream To Shareinthe Grade 2bumperatLeopardstownat the beginning of FebruaryIcouldn’t have imagined he would make a name for himself over jumpsso quickly.

Since Noble Yeatsbecame the first horsesince the 1940s to winthe Grand National as aseven-year-old, it’s hardly asecretthat Emmetis prepared to do the unorthodox. But winninga Grade 1chase with ahorse havingonly his second race over fences is exceptional.

PerhapsIcan putthe feat into perspectivebestbyreferring to my experience with twoofthe horses Emmet waspreparedtotakeonlast week.

Runner-up Appreciate It finished second in aChampionBumperat Cheltenhamand wonthree Grade 1s as anovicehurdler,includingthe Supreme Novices’. Admittedly,he missed awhole year alongthe way, buthe’sahorsewith areal depth of experience.It’sbeenfiveyearssince Irodehim to winamaidenat

Dromahane for PatDoyle

Alsointhe line-up againstFeronily wasSir Gerhard.It’sbeenthree anda half years since Irodethe subsequentChampion Bumper and Ballymorewinner to winatBoulta for Ellmarie

As it happened, SirGerhard hadan unexpectedoff-daylastweek, but Appreciate It seemedtorun his race, yetcouldn’t quitematch thetalented youngster who wasgiven afantastic ride by Donagh Meyler to match a greattrainingachievement.

Laterinthe week, Iwas thrilledto team up with Emmet to winthe Champion Hunters Chaseon another six-year-old, ItsOnThe Line.

Fortunately, he showed no illeffects from his fall at Aintree, and found enough to beat the favourite Vaucelet.

He wasthe best of theIrish runnerswhen second to Premier Magic in the St James’sPlace Hunter ChaseatCheltenham,sohe deservedthis

At the same time,Ihavetosay,for the sake of fairness, that it was disappointingatechnical issuetodo with the licensingofhandlers preventedPremier Magic from taking partfor BradleyGibbs.

Much as anyIrish trainer or rider enjoys winningracesas significantasthis one in the hunter chasingcalendar, we allwantall the races at Punchestown to be as competitive as possible

Sour taste

Theexclusion of Premier Magic understandably left a sour taste for our colleagues in the British point-to-pointworld, and Ihopethis isn’t somethingthat will happen again. We needthis race to be a proper championship occasion and

puttingbarriers in the wayisnot the waytogoabout it Isaidafter Cheltenhamthat it was ahugethrill to see John Kiely winthe Champion Bumper with ADream To Share. It wasthe same all over again when John Gleesonmadeitfivefrom fiveonthis outstandingbumper horseinlastweek’sGrade 1.

He hadtobetough as well as talentedtobeatTullyhill, aWillie Mullins-trainedgeldingwho deservestoberated one of the best horses to come outofthe season’s autumn point-to-pointcampaign.He wona maiden at Moirafor Colin McKeever last October andwon his firstbumperatGowraninMarch in a canter

LastweekIrecalled howIfinished second on BlazingLissfor John Kiely in the Grade 1bumperatthe 2004 festival, so it wasa nice coincidence to see her name crop up later in the week. Sheis the granddam of

ChasingUnicorn, who made agood impression in winningSaturday’s bumper for the Crawfords in the colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede

It’s unusualfor Enda Bolger not to winone of the cross-countryraces at the meeting. Iwas outofluckonmy rides for him and the closesthecame waswhen HarrySwanpartnered Stealthy Tomintosecond in the La Touche

It wasa disappointingweekfor the stable by usualstandards,but at the same time it wasgood to see some other deservingwinners have their bigmoment.

On theopening day, Denis Murphy wonthe Ladies Cupwiththe mare ThreeByTwo,verycapably ridden by Tiernan PowerRoche.Itturned outaninformativerace because the runner-up Vital Island came out again twodayslater and wonthe La Touche for RichardO’Keeffe and BennyWalsh,and the50-1 third Subset went twoplaces better on the final day, winningat33-1 under BarryStone for trainer Peter Maher, who alsosaddled the runner-up TheLadiesCup formwould also have helped to find the Bishopscourt Cupwinner, the John Carr-trainedFr Gilligansvoyge whodead-heated with ThreeByTwo in amaiden at BorrisHouse in March.

Vital Island’s wininthe La Touche confirmedhis reputation as abanks specialist.Hehas been dominant over the Lingstowncourseand won over the new courseatKnockanard in February.

Goffs spectacular

Notall theexcitementlastweekwas on the track. TheGoffs Punchestown sale wasaspectacular success, the headlines made by the Colin BowetrainedFairyhousewinner Qualamita,boughtbyMagsO’Toole fora stunning€500,000.

Denis Murphy’sTralee winner Histrionic sold for €450,000, Gordon Elliottmadeseveral expensive purchases, and almosthalfthe catalogue changed handsfor more than €200,000, underliningthe strength of the market for high-class point-to-pointers.

I’mconfidentwe’ll see some of them backatPunchestown this time nextyear proving their worthonthe track.

‘Tullyhill deservesto be ratedone of thebest horses to come outofthe season’s autumn point-to-point campaign’

Feronily jumpsthe lasttoearnhis first winoverfencesinthe Grade1 Dooley Insurance Champion Novice Chase

CAROLINE NORRIS (RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS)

❝a super round of jumping by an exciting young chaser. He looks like a possible Gold Cup horse❞ RACING POST, April 26th

FACILE VEGA won the Champion Novice Hurdle-Gr.1 forWillie Mullins and owner/breeders the Hammer &Trowel Syndicate

❝Thisracehasbeenwonbysometop-class performers,includingMoscowFlyer,HurricaneFly, FaugheenandDouvan…FacileVegawonwithplentyin hand❞ RACING POST, April 26th

GAELIC WARRIOR won the Novice Hurdle-Gr.1 by 10 lengths forWillie Mullins & Mrs Susannah Ricci

❝Stepped up to three miles for the first time, the Willie Mullins-trained five-year-old proved in a different league to his rivals❞RACING TV, APRIL 26TH

CongratulationstotheMOGULdrawwinnersFrankReynolds(WALKINTHEPARKnomination), DeclanDaly(CRYSTALOCEANnomination)andPaddyO’Leary(MOGULnomination).

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.

FERONILY, bred byThomas F O'Brien, won the Champion Novice Chase-Gr.1 for Emmet Mullins & Paul Byrne