Joy for James and Doyle

IT WAS one of the busiest weekends I have ever seen on the point-to-point scene, with seven meetings being staged over three days in counties Carlow, Down, Waterford, Cork, Tipperary and Galway, and Lingstown in Wexford, as organisers worked hard to get the programme back on track despite tough conditions after the white-out caused by Storm Emma last week.

Top riding performance was by Rob James from Killanne who had six winners, including a four-timer in Cork on Sunday for Donnchadh Doyle, who was the top handler with a remarkable eight winners.

The Wexford yards again dominated the prestigious four-year-old maidens, and quite a few of those winners will be in the sales ring at Cheltenham on Thursday evening.

For space reasons I am compelled to largely concentrate on just the winners this week to fit everything in.

At the Carlow Farmers’ fixture at Borris House on Friday, a notable feature was the number of track trainers who had runners, and Jamie Codd had a double for two of them in the opening races.

He won the four-year-old maiden on Andy Dufresne for Gordon Elliott, and the five-year-old geldings’ maiden on Mats Hall for David M. O’Brien from Piltown.

Barry O’Neill kept tabs on Codd with victory in the five-year-old plus mares’ maiden on the impressive Sinoria (Oscar-Petralona) for Richard Black from Bunclody and owner Austin Fanning.

Aaron Sinnott from Enniscorthy rode his first winner of the season for local Borris trainer, Aidan Fitzgerald, in the Adjacent maiden, benefiting from a last fence mistake by Kate Harrington’s Misty Magic, under Rob James, who got quick compensation when he won the Open race on Sammanntom for trainer Pat Doyle from Nenagh.

Wexford youngsters dominated the concluding geldings’ maiden for novice riders: Seán O’Keeffe from Taghmon won on Vital Island (Trans Island-Persian Pearl), owned and trained by his cousin Richard, ahead of Tiernan Power-Roche (Tomhaggard) on Raglan Road and James Kenny (Craanford) on Ask Harry.

On Saturday, the Wexford yards won both the prestigious four-yearold maidens at opposite ends of the country.

At the North Down hunt meeting at Kirkistown, Colin Bowe and Barry O’Neill introduced another imposingly impressive son of Flemensfirth, Long After Dark, to cruise home.

At the re-fixed West Waterford meeting at Lismore, Feel My Pulse (Stowaway-Zenaide) won even more easily for Rob James and Donnchadh Doyle, with younger brother, Cormac Doyle, filling second with Young Bull. They will be hoping to get back last year’s €60,000 purchase price, plus a lot of profit, on Thursday.

Jamie Codd got a winner up north in the last, prevailing by a head in a thriller on Jim Dreaper’s Book of Love in the older geldings’ maiden. However, he missed out on a winner in the Point to Point Bumper at Gowran, won by his regular ally, Denis Murphy (The Ballagh), with Derby ridden by Paddy Mullins.

At Lismore, Roy Tector from Clonroche got his second win of the season with Turndownthevolume, the seven-year-old son of Stowaway which he bred, owns and trains ridden by Tom Feeney from Fermoy, who beat his son Adam into second place.

On Sunday there was a small entry for the meeting at Ballyarthur, Mitchelstown, with just 26 runners, but Donnchadh Doyle and Rob James took a shrewd decision to go there and took full advantage with four winners from four entries, three of them for the Monbeg Syndicate.

They took both the four-yearold maidens with Brewers Project (Aizavoski-Shaylee Wilde) in the geldings’ race with some comfort, and Jillythejet (Jeremy-Renvyle Society) in the mares’ by two lengths.

They also took both five-yearold maidens with Ballybreen (Goldwell-Miss Colclough) in the geldings and Sheila Tanist (Court Cave-Douglas Park) for D.J. Stafford by just a neck in the mares.

The trend continued at Belclare in Galway when Colin Bowe took the four-year-old maiden with First Account (Malinas-Kind Nell) under Jimmy O’Rourke from Glenville, Wexford, winning cosily.

It was a good day for young Luke Murphy from Inch with a riding double. He took the Winner of Two on Bloodstream (Scorpion-Gala Festival) for his parents, John and Miriam, by a huge 20 lengths, and the older mares’ maiden on Bright Side of Life (Doyen-Lough Lein Leader) for Denis Murphy, The Ballagh. O’Rourke was second in the latter on Shirley Berry’s Burn Baby Burn.

Reigning champion rider, Barry O’Neill, travelled to Horse and Jockey in Tipperary and picked up the four-year-old mares’ maiden for Colin Bowe with The Glancing Queen (Jeremy-Glancing) holding off Derek O’Connor’s mount.

The geldings’ four-year-old maiden was another for Donnchadh Doyle, with The Big Getaway (Getaway-Saddlers Dawn) winning by a distance under Harley Dunne.

After all that activity, Barry O’Neill leads the riders’ championship on 29 winners, from Jamie Codd (26), Rob James (19) and Derek O’Connor (18). In the handlers, Donnchadh Doyle has taken over at the top with 17 winners, from Colin Bowe (15), and Denis Murphy and Pat Doyle, Nenagh (both on nine).

Racing next weekend is at Ballynoe, over the Waterford border in Cork on Saturday; at Dromahane, Cork, and Ballyragget, Kilkenny, on Sunday, and at Tyrella, Co. Down, on Monday.