Champs once again
O’Neill and Bowe retain their titles
RIDER BARRY O’Neill and trainer Colin Bowe have retained their national point-to-point championships with a day to spare as they were in an unassailable position going into the final day at Ballingarry yesterday (Monday).
The Novice riders’ title was set to go right down to the wire as Seán O’Keeffe led reigning champion Shane Fitzgerald by eleven winners to ten.
O’Neill has led practically the whole season, with his main challenge coming from Jamie Codd until he was injured. Eleven times champion, Derek O’Connor, then took up the chase but could never really close the gap.
He did make one last determined effort at Kinsale on Saturday evening when he had a treble, but the champion limited the damage by recording a double of his own and still led by eight going into the second-last day.
O’Connor admitted defeat on Sunday and rode instead in a qualified riders’ race on the track at Listowel.
O’Neill has 58 to winners to O’Connor’s 50 and is the champion for the second time, after pipping Jamie Codd last year by a single winner in an epic battle. He is a worthy champion and has been very consistent all year. Rob James is third on 42 and the injured Codd holds on to fourth place on 39.
Quite a few of Barry O’Neill’s winners were supplied by his neighbour, Colin Bowe, and the Milestone Stables as Bowe was clinching his sixth handler’s title and fourth in a row, with 33 winners after Sunday to 28 for his near neighbour, Donnchadh Doyle, of the Monbeg Stable.
The two of them shared the title in 2015 but Bowe has been the dominant force in the last few years.
He was also champion in 2017, 2016, 2011 and 2010. Denis Murphy from The Ballagh was fourth with 17 winners.
O’Neill’s two winners on Saturday came on Fiercly Forgie for John Halley in Division 2 of the five-year-old geldings’ maiden, and Eddies Miracle for David Christie who made the long trip from Fermanagh for the open race.
Denis Murphy won Division 1 of the five-year-old geldings’ maiden with The Longwayaround (by Fruits of Love), under Jimmy O’Rourke.
At Kinsale on Sunday, O’Neill drew a blank but in the absence of O’Connor, this made no difference. Second on Bowe’s Takingitallin in the four-year-old mares’ maiden was his closest call; Bowe had the first three home, Newtown Lakama (by Mahler) winning and Subtle Quest third.
The Monbeg Syndicate had the only two finishers of nine runners in Division 1 of the four-year-old geldings’ maiden, with Seán Doyle’s Caspers Court (by Court Cave) beating his brother Cormac’s High Up In The Air.
Division 2 went to Michael Goff of Clondaw with Derek Tobin’s Est Illic (also by Court Cave), under Shane Fitzgerald.
At Ballingarry on Sunday, ‘Paddy’ Scallan from Tomhaggard won the four-year-old mares’ maiden on Matthew Flynn-O’Connor’s Highstreet Roller (by Jeremy), and Colin Bowe had his second winner of the weekend in the five-year-old mares’ maiden with Queen of the Court (by Court Cave) under Rob James.
The five-year-old geldings’ maiden was won by J.P. and Marie Brennan’s (Camolin) Trumps Benefit, under John Walsh.
Aaron Sinnott from Enniscorthy had his second winner in eight days on Gemma’s Flame in the older horses’ maiden, for Hugh Finegan from Meath.
We will carry the details from Monday’s Ballingarry meeting next week, and also coverage of the annual awards night being held at Clayton Whites Hotel on Saturday night when lots of silverware will be coming to Wexford.
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