Goff puts stop to Doyle’s gallop POINT-TO-POINT
DONNCHADH DOYLE and Rob James won the opening four-year-old maiden up north for the fourth week in a row, this time with Winged Leader (by Winged Love), at Loughbrickland, Co. Down, on Saturday.
They won well from Harley Dunne on Shark Hanlon’s Old Jewry and Jamie Codd on Denis Murphy’s Manicman.
The Murphys from Inch scored with the very consistent Bloodstream (by Scopion) in the mares’ open, ridden by Luke for mother Miriam (owner) and father John (trainer), putting the favourite under Derek O’Connor firmly in place.
Jamie Codd had to be content with two seconds while Barry O’Neill had no luck with his two rides.
The Meath and Tara Hunts raced at Dowth Hall on Sunday, one of the best attended meetings of the year with lots of side-attractions.
Mick Goff and his rider, Shane Fitzgerald, picked up a four-year-old maiden for the second week in a row, this time with the Beat Hollow gelding, Clondaw Hollow.
They put a stop to the Doyle/Rob James bandwagon as they finished second with Up The Straight. Fitzgerald doubled up with Breandan Long’s (Kilkenny) Dookie in the five-year-old geldings’ maiden.
Barry O’Neill scored on David Christie’s Jasper Bear in the older mares’ maiden, with Shane O’Rourke second on Rair Owl Timz. Jamie Codd was not to be outdone and he won the older geldings’ maiden with R.W.T. Brabazon’s Smooth Spoon.
They race next Sunday at Askeaton, Co. Limerick (Stonehall Hunt), and the Kilkenny Foxhounds race at a new venue, Damma House, which is located three miles from Ballycallan.
Wexford-trained winners in the first three weeks of the season were in demand at the Doncaster autumn sale on Thursday.
Colin Bowe’s Pistol Whipped, a Beneficial gelding which was second at Loughrea, fetched £110k; Ellen Doyle’s first winner as a handler for the Baltimore stable, Unexpected Depth (by Shantou), got £75k, and she got £45k for Heavey (by Trans Island).
The Doyle brothers’ Monbeg operation sold two to Roger Brookhouse, Moira winner Buck’s Bins for £60k and Rock on Rocco which, though only third at Loughrea, fetched £55k.