Local stars feted at awards
Standing ovation for O’Neill after collecting second title
THE 2017-’18 point-to-point season came to a glamorous conclusion at a glittering awards gala at Clayton Whites Hotel in Wexford, attended by the great and good of the sport from all over the country, with a big share of the major awards coming to the county.
In effect this was quite a detailed review of the year with all the highlights being shown on video screens, and M.C. Richard Pugh, the fount of all knowledge on the point-to-point scene, provided a remarkable number of interesting facts and figures on the year gone by and on all of the award winners.
Barry O’Neill, Kiltealy, got a standing ovation as he picked up his second national rider’s title and was also winner of the regional titles in the East and for the first time, in the North, a rare enough hat-trick. He had 58 winners.
Derek O’Connor was second on 50 and also won three awards, for seniors (over 34 years of age), and the West and South regions.
Third was Rob James from Killanne (42) and fourth was Jamie Codd (39) whose season was cut short by injury - happily he is recovering and was looking well at the function.
O’Neill was praised for his commitment and dedication - he did not miss riding on a single day of the possible 60 during the season.
His friend and neighbour, Colin Bowe, won the handler’s title for the sixth time with 33 winners, beating Donnchadh Doyle from Monbeg, Ballindaggin, by five, with Denis Murphy from The Ballagh filling fourth (17). Bowe pipped Doyle ten to nine as the leading mares’ handler.
Donnchadh Doyle earned a special mention for the remarkable feat of saddling seven winners on one day at three different venues - even Pugh could not recall anything to match that. He also mentioned the many Wexford horses that attracted big prices
Colin Bowe, Easyfix leading handler winner, and Barry O’Neill, Irish Field top jockey, for the 2017-’18 point-to-point season, received their trophies at the annual awards ceremony at Clayton Whites Hotel, Wexford. Near neighbours in Kiltealy, they have worked together for many years and are a formidable team (Photograph: Healy Racing).
to top the sales lists at prestigious venues like Cheltenham, Doncaster, Aintree and Ascot.
Pugh pointed out that Barry had won on well over 50 different horses in the season and he had suffered only nine falls in his 263 rides - a tribute to his horsemanship.
O’Neill and Bowe form a formidable team and Barry has been in and around the Bowe yard since he was a child.
His 58 winners included 25 for Colin, including eleven four-yearold maidens. It was estimated that his Bowe winners raised more than €3 million in the sales rings this year.
Sená O’Keeffe from Harveystown, Taghmon, and Shane Fitzgerald from Buttevent in Cork but living in Wexford and working with Michael Goff’s Ferns yard for several years, shared the novice rider’s title with eleven winners each.
O’Keeffe had had only ten rides prior to this season and one winner, and his progress has been phenomenal, with success also coming to him on the track. His eleven winners came from 59 rides.
He led for much of the season but was reeled in by Fitzgerald, who also shared the title last year, with a winner on each of the last two days of the campaign, both in four-year-old maidens supplied by his boss, Michael Goff.
His victory over Barry O’Neill at Ballingarry on the final day aboard Presenting Dancer (by Arcadio) was the vital one, his 96th ride of the campaign.
Overall, it was a tough year with the terrible spring weather conditions causing havoc with the schedule. Voluntary hunt committees all over the country had to overcome great difficulties to save the vast bulk of fixtures.
However, it was a tremendous year once again for Wexford connections. Riders Luke Murphy from Inch, James Walsh from Tinahely (eleven each) and Jimmy O’Rourke from Belmont, Wexford (ten) achieved double figures and a place in the top 20.
Harley Dunne (seven) and Shane O’Rourke kept things ticking over nicely, while it was a special year for Sená Staples from Scar, Duncormick (two) and Kevin Corrigan, Blackwater, who both had their first wins.
James Kenny (four wins), son of Liam from Craanford, Tiernan Power-Roche and Jaimie ‘Paddy’ Scallan (both Tomhaggard) and Aaron Sinnott (Enniscorthy) with three wins each can be happy with progress.
Benny Walsh (Murrintown) and Conor Murphy (Ramsgrange) also got on the board.
It is a fiercely competitive sport, with literally hundreds of trainers big and small around the country vying for a slice of the cake.
Many from Wexford made their mark including Michael Goff (nine wins), Seán Thomas Doyle (eight), Richard Black (Bunclody), Vincent Devereux (Rostoonstown), Cormac Doyle (Monbeg), Denis Hickey (Foulksmills) and Liam Kenny (Craanford), four wins each.
John Paul Brennan (Camolin) and James W. Doyle (Monageer), Pierce Power (The Hook, Fethard), Roy Tector (Clonroche) and Benny Walsh (Murrintown) all had three winners.
Also on the board were people like Ashleigh Murphy (Duncormick), Richard O’Keeffe (Taghmon), Richie Rath (Screen), Ivan Walker (Bunclody), two wins each; Shirley Berry (Tomhaggard), late William Codd (Mayglass), Daryl Deacon (Clonroche), Pat Doyle (Courtown), Jonathan Fogarty (Cleariestown), Brian Jordan (Rathaspeck), Bernadette Murphy (Blackwater), Paul Nolan (Davidstown), Pat O’Rourke (Belmont, Wexford), Paul Martin Pierce (Killurin), Kieran Roche (Adamstown), and John Martin Walsh (Duncormick).
My apologies if anyone has been missed out, and I wish to acknowledge the www.p2p.ie website as the source of my statistics. This site provides a remarkable service to all involved in the sport and the business of point-topointing.