Exciting finale at Bettyville
Local success limited, but quality on view in abundance
THE FINAL meeting of the year was run off at Wexford’s Bettyville racecourse last Tuesday and undoubtedly featured the best card of the 2016 programme. While the local success was limited, punters saw some exciting finishes and a number of top-quality horses from the country’s leading stables.
The reasonable midweek attendance was rewarded with perfect conditions on a cool but sunny day. Champions Ruby Walsh and Willie Mullins pulled off a double, while Jamie Codd came closest to a Wexford winner in the concluding Rosslare Hunter Chase.
Codd seemed poised for a win on the Jim Dreaper-trained favourite, Sizingdowntherhine (13/8), but he just could not peg back the point-to-point specialist, Maple Mons (7/1), under Richie Deegan from Borris, making the long trip from Fermanagh worthwhile for trainer David Christie.
The star performer of the day will surely turn out to be the first leg of the Walsh double in the famous Ricci colours; Crack Tiepy was sent off as 4/9 favourite in the two and a half miles mares’ hurdle and, given all the weight advantages, the four-year-old was an impressive winner from a Gordon Elliott-trained pair. More will be heard of her in bigger arenas.
The Walsh-Mullins double was completed by 8/1 shot, Daisy’s Gift, in the two-mile Selskar handicap chase. Barry Geraghty came to Wexford for the one ride on Joseph O’Brien’s evens favourite, Slow Motion, and came to grief at the very first fence, the only faller of the day. Such are the ups and downs of jumps racing.
Keppols Queen (9/4) under Mark Bolger, and Monbeg Rose with Bryan Cooper up, battled it out up front and probably ruined each other’s chances, while Ruby Walsh loitered out the back and came through in the end to win comfortably.
There was a great run in third by Annamatopoeia (20/1), trained in Rathangan by Brian Jordan and ridden by Mark Scallan from Cleariestown; this was just two days after he been a battling second in Cork.
There was a thrilling finish to a good quality opening mares’ maiden hurdle with two short heads dividing the first three - Forge Meadow (15/8) under Robbie Power for Jessie Harrington held on from Paul Townend on John Kiely’s Toe the Line (6/4f), and David Mullins on Henry de Bromhead’s Theatre Dreams (12/1).
Sutton Manor (4/5 fav.) was a comfortable winner of the maiden hurdle for Brian Cooper and the powerful Gordon Elliott/Gigginstown Stud operation, ahead of the Mikey Fogarty-ridden Nanny Stone for Tom Taaffe.
Cloudy Morning (6/1), ridden by Barry Browne for Declan Queally from Waterford, completed a hattrick of wins in the Loch Garman handicap hurdle, having won at Clonmel and at the October meeting in Wexford. The 6/4 favourite, Logical Song, was a notable flop in this race for Danny and Margaret Mullins.
There’s still a place for the small man in jumps racing; trainer and owner Aengus King has just two horses in training and he has won six races between them this year.
Capture the Drama (3/1 fav.) galloped the field into submission under Mark Walsh in the Selskar Handicap Chase to make it four for the year, having started with a massive 100/1 upset at Gowran in March.
And so the curtain came down on racing at Bettyville for 2016, and quite an historic year it was with the track being turned around to an anti-clockwise direction and the decision made to drop flat racing and deal exclusively in National Hunt.
The jumps fraternity were happy with the change as it provided a testing uphill finish, and while the punters were a bit removed from the new finish line, they were compensated by the regular presence of big screens, some exciting jumping action right in front of them, and a whole string of exciting finishes.
The change-over resulted in the loss of two flat meetings but the full quota will be restored next year when racing resumes on St. Patrick’s Day as is traditional.