Jockeys travel back and forth
Criss-crossing the Irish Sea
THREE WEXFORD jockeys who rode in Liverpool on the opening day of the Aintree meeting on Thursday flew home to ride winners at their local Bettyville track on Friday, and two of them crossed back over to Merseyside again on Saturday morning to be involved in the excitement of Grand National day, one of the biggest occasions in world jumps racing.
J.J. Slevin, Seán Flanagan and Jamie Codd all scored at Bettyville to keep the local flag flying, and their trek was replicated by quite a few other top jockeys, including point-to-point champion Barry O’Neill, who went to Co. Down on Saturday to continue his defence of that title.
Flanagan was able to stay at home as his National mount, Mal Dini, was withdrawn from the race on Friday, but Codd and Slevin had rides in the National and also grabbed a first and second in other races on the Liverpool card.
Jonathan Moore made it a quartet of winning Wexford riders on the eight-race Bettyville card on a day when the local trainers did not make it to the winners’ enclosure.
There was a small crowd for the afternoon-evening fixture which was run off in lovely conditions for the first five races before the rain arrived for the final three.
The concluding Irish Stallion Farms EBF mares’ bumper, run in near darkness, looked very competitive on paper, with all the top stables represented, but it was turned into a procession in the end by Jamie Codd on the Gordon Elliott trained Mount Ida which was solidly backed from 5/2 into 13/8 favourite.
Codd’s only other scheduled mount in the previous race was a non-runner but Mount Ida, bred by Philip Hore at Tomhaggard, made his criss-crossing of the Irish Sea worthwhile.
They took it up two furlongs out and the outcome was never in doubt. They had seven and half lengths in hand on Declan Queally’s Uisce Solas, with Richie Deegan (Borris) third on Lady Loretto for Mag Mullins.
Earlier, J.J. Slevin took the first division of the Springtime in Wexford Maiden Hurdle on Sullane River (8/1), his task eased by the early departure of the Willie Mullins-trained favourite, Defy De Mee (evens).
He had just half a length to spare over 66/1 long-shot, Éclair De Rock, under Katie O’Farrell. This was a first track win for trainer Pat O’Connor from Waterford since July, 2015.
Jonathan Moore had the easiest win of the day in the €16,000 two and a half mile hurdle aboard Darver Star for Gavin Cromwell (Meath) and a Louth-based syndicate.
He had ten lengths to spare over Broder (12/1) under Philip Enright, with Seán Doyle’s Crosshue Boy (12/1) third under Harley Dunne.
Favourite, Speaker Connolly (10/3), was still in contention when suffering a fatal fall at the second last, a sad loss as this horse was good enough to run in the Kim Muir at the recent Cheltenham Festival.
Seán Flanagan had a decent-looking book of six rides and, after a couple of places, finally got his winner in the Vinegar Hill Mares’ Beginners’ Chase in very comfortable style on High School Days (1/1f) for Henry De Bromhead and Gigginstown. They hardly broke sweat as they accounted for Declan Queally’s Tell Me Annie (6/4).
Flanagan was second on J.P. Dempsey’s Stowaway Forever (4/1) in the featured €18,000 Boolavogue Novice Chase, well beaten by Queally’s Cloudy Morning (4/1), with Paul Nolan’s Crazyheart (5/1), a winner at the last Wexford meeting, taking a distant third under Bryan Cooper.
Flanagan was third on Noel Meade’s Percy B. Shelley (5/1) in the Slaney Estuary Handicap Hurdle, three lengths behind Jonathan Moore on Gavin Cromwell’s Sillogue Pio, but both had to give best to Scotch Quay (11/4f), under Ricky Doyle for Eoin Griffin.
He was also third on Meade’s Trappist Monk (8/1) in Division 2 of the Wexford Maiden Hurdle, behind surprise winner on his track debut, Popong (16/1), for Hugh Morgan and Henry De Bromhead which sailed past hot favourite, Edelpour (5/4), and Donagh Meyler up the straight.
Willie Mullins had a big double at Aintree with Min and Cadmium, and he made it a 90-minute treble in the opening Welcome to Wexford Racecourse Novice Hurdle at Bettyville when his nephew, Danny, steered home Pont Aven (11/2) by four lengths from Jessica Harrington’s The Goaheadman (25/1). Favourite Halsafari (10/3) never raised a gallop and was pulled up before the last by Brian Hayes.
The meeting was well supported by the racing fraternity with a near capacity 96 horses taking part in the eight races, showing once again that the trainers regard the Bettyville track as a popular and fair testing ground for their charges.
The next meeting is on Saturday afternoon, April 27.