Big day for some local lesser lights POINT-TO-POINT BY PEGASUS
by Pegasus
DARYL JACOB from Davidstown was the star of the week with an awesome success on Bristol De Mai on Saturday in the first Grade 1 contest of the British season, the £200,000 Betfair Chase at Haydock, and he and the striking grey are now in line for a £1m bonus if they can add the King George Chase at Christmas and the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Jacob and his mount demolished a top-class field by an amazing 57 lengths, with horses such as Cue Card (2/1), Outlander and Tea For Two trailing in their wake. Daryl has ridden the horse in 19 of his 20 races and was on board for all but one of his eight wins.
Jacob is retained rider for owners Simon Munir and Isaac Souede and they are providing him with some serious ammunition, and he is also stable jockey when available for Ben Pauling. He has had 27 winners so far this season from just 138 rides, a 20% strike rate, raking in over £420,000 in winnings.
He will be remembered for his Aintree Grand National win in 2012 on board Neptune Collonges, beating Sunnyhillboy in a photo finish, the closest-ever margin in the great race.
He has had his career travails, suffering an horrific fall from Port Melon on his way to the start at the Cheltenham Festival in 2014 which left him with a broken leg, knee and elbow and out of action for over three months, and then he lost his role with top trainer, Paul Nicholls.
However, he has overcome all adversity. He had 88 winners last season with a strike rate of 22% to be in the top ten in Britain, and if he can stay injury-free he has a lot to look forward to for the rest of this season.
He began his day on a high note at Haydock on Saturday with a win for Pauling, Munir and Souede on Delire D’estruval (12/1) in a £25,000 novice hurdle, getting back up by a neck after being headed on the run-in.
Earlier in the week, Jacob scored on Tuesday at Southwell on Equus Secretus (11/8) for Pauling. He and Tom O’Brien moved on to Warwick on Wednesday, and Jacob had what must have been one of his shortest-priced winners when he romped to victory in a two-horse race on Alan King’s Sceau Royal at 1/16 for his retaining owners. O’Brien won on one of his two rides, aboard Goosen Maverick (6/1).
The two Wexford men fought out the finish of the opener at Ascot on Friday, victory going to Jacob on Pauling’s Kildisart (11/4f), two lengths in front of O’Brien on King of Realms (10/1) for Ian Williams.
Flat racing is very quiet at this time but I had missed Taghmon’s Pat McDonald from the all-weather circuit for the past couple of weeks and thought he was taking a well-deserved break after booting home 114 winners from over 800 rides - his best-ever seasonal tally and his first ‘century’.
In fact, he was in South Africa as part of an international team taking on the locals in the Air Mauritius International Jockeys’ Challenge and he was the star of the show. He had two winners and a third, winning the best individual award and leading the visitors to a big team win. Pat Smullen and Seamie Heffernan were also on the winning team with riders from Australia, England and France.
Pat Dobbs (Enniscorthy) is back on the United Arab Emirates circuit where he has enjoyed so much winter success over the years and he scored a great 170/1 treble at Meydan on Thursday for his regular trainer, Doug Watson, raking in over €130,000 in prize money. He has had six winners from his first 13 rides of their season.
Seán Flanagan displayed his good form once again when he scored a 177/1 double at Thurles on Thursday. His first was on Broder (backed from 10s into 15/2) for John J. Walsh, by eight lengths from Paul Nolan’s Crazyheart (14/1).
Flanagan’s second was a shocker, as he guided home 20/1 shot, Oakfield Rose, for Eric Larkin, the only horse the trainer from Kilsheelan, Tipperary, has in his care.
It was a quiet Wexford day at Gowran on Saturday. Trans Wood (40/1) for Gordon Doyle from Knockmullen, New Ross, was second in the two-mile handicap hurdle under Ricky Doyle.
Seán Flanagan began the day on a winning note at Navan on Sunday when scoring comfortably on Robbie McNamara’s wellbacked Ratoute Yutty (7/4) in the €20,000 maiden hurdle, and he picked up a cool €10,000 for being third on Noel Meade’s Bonny Kate (16/1) in the €100,000 Troytown Chase, behind Mala Beach. WEXFORD CONNECTIONS dominated the Suir Vale Hunt fixture at Knockinroe, near Templemore, winning five of the six events, and while Barry O’Neill and Jamie Codd were again prominent it was nice to see some of the lesser lights getting their turn in the limelight.
The concluding older horses’ maiden was won by owner-trainer Denis Hickey with Buckie Cullen (Craigsteel-Carrolleena), giving Seán O’Keeffe, Taghmon, his second points success. He also had a first winner on the track recently in a bumper for Liz Doyle.
William (owner) and Daryl Deacon from Clonroche also got off the mark for the season with Voyage De Retour (Craigsteel-Taipers) under Eddie Keating (Gusserane) in the five-year-old geldings’ maiden.
Barry O’Neill picked up a double. He took the four-year-old geldings’ maiden on Colin Bowe’s Blackjack Kentucky (Oscar-My Names Not Bin), with Andrew Walsh (Duncormick) third on Cormac Doyle’s Sneaky Pint.
Paul Nolan’s The Mooch (16s into 10/1) took second in a handicap hurdle under Dylan Robinson, and Liz Doyle’s Cordovan Brown (12/1) took second in the bumper under Finny Maguire, beaten by less than a length.
Samcro (1/4) confirmed his tall reputation and maintained his unbeaten record when romping to a twelve lengths win in the €42,500 Grade 3 Monksfield Novice Hurdle, his second win over timber following on three bumper wins last season (two under Jamie Codd).
Samcro began his career impressively in the Bree Hunt pointto-point at Monksgrange on April 2, 2016, under Barry O’Neill for trainer Colin Bowe and breeder/ owner Dave Taylor.
He was snapped up at the Aintree Sales shortly after for £335,000 by Gordon Elliott for Gigginstown, and this looks like a sound investment.
He doubled up in the five-year-old mares’ maiden on Kilnesare Kate for locals Denis Ryan and Leslie Young.
Jamie Codd kept tabs on his rival with victory in the Winners of One for David O’Brien from Piltown, Kilkenny, on Freeway Space, a regular track performer.
Second here was Tiernan Roche (Tomhaggard) on Michael Goff’s Senator’s Glory.
The West Waterford Hunt raced at Boulta, and Wexford horses dominated the four-year-old geldings’ maiden. Cormac Doyle, brother of Donnchadh and Seán Thomas, trained his second winner of the season for the Monbeg Syndicate, with March Is On (Gold Well-Shannon Tiara) scoring under Jimmy O’Rourke.
Second six lengths back was Clondaw Anchor, ridden for Caitríona and Michael Goff by Shane Fitzgerald. O’Rourke had earlier finished third in a strong-looking 16-runner four-year-old mares’ maiden on Colin Bowe’s Lorvon Pearl.
Next weekend they race at Moira, Co. Down (Saturday), and at Mainstown near Carrick-on-Suir and at Ballindenisk, Watergrasshill, in Cork on Sunday.