A RED LETTER DAY
Milestones for O’Keeffe and Black
IT was a quiet week on the jumping scene in Ireland with the four-day Tramore meeting holding the spotlight, but it did provide notable milestones for several Wexford connections at either end of their careers – young Sean O’Keeffe from Taghmon who turned professional, and trainer Tony Black, Ballinapark, Bunclody, who had a winner with his first runner of the year, and only his second win on the track in over ten years.
Sean O’Keeffe comes from a Harveystown, Taghmon family steeped in horses; his grandfather and his father, Jim, both trained and rode horses for the track and point to point. Just 19, Sean shared the national point to point novice riders’ title with Shane Fitzgerald last season, with 11 winners from just 59 rides.
Prior to that he had only had 10 career rides in points and had his first winner in May 2016 on his father’s Tinnacurra at Grennan, and his first winner on the track was on Cordovan Brown at Punchestown in Oct. 2017 for Liz Doyle. Sean will be riding for Liz, Paul Nolan and Denis Hickey in Wexford and he will have no shortage of rides from other trainers also.
His first ride as a professional was aboard Barry John Murphy’s Hitchcock at Tramore on Thursday evening and they finished 6th of 14 runners.
He only had to wait a day for his first win as a professional, scoring on Friday on Liz Doyle’s Ashjan (11/1) for the Real Deal Syndicate. Three lengths back in third was Noel Dooly’s (Davidstdown) Coolfighter ((8/1) under James O’Sullivan.
Jamie Codd made Friday a good day for Wexford when winning the bumper on Gordon Elliott’s Hammerstein (7/2). Brian Jordan’s (Rathangan) Knock on Steel (14/1) was second under Mark Scallan of Cl,eariestown in a maiden hurdle for owner, Richard Eustace, with Colin Bowe’s Its All A Lark ((12/1) in third.
Tony Black’s big moment came earlier on the Thursday card when Danny Mullins rode his Teqany (10/1) to victory in the Pat Halley Architects maiden hurdle by a comfortable three lengths on his debut for the stable, having come off the flat with Ger Lyons. ’He is a decent type of horse and we are thinking of Listowel now, he might go for the Lartigue.’
Tony has been into horses for many years, mainly point to pointing, and he has a dozen or more horses being prepared for the new season in October, mainly four year olds. He only has three or four horses for the track.
There was another Wexford success on the Thursday card with Noel Dooly’s Cantkidakidder (14/1) scoring in a handicap hurdle for the Hang In There Partnership under Camolin’s James O’Sullivan. Dooly is a native of Tramore and trains in Davidstown, Wexford. It was the horse’s second jumps win in 25 outings, having won in Wexford just over a year ago.
Sean Flanagan was also in the winners’ enclosure, scoring on Barry Murphy’s Ingleby MacKensie (7/4f) by almost three lengths.
There was another Wexford success to close out the four-day Tramore Festival on Sunday with Davy Russell scoring on Bellgrove (10/1), trained in Bree by Pat Cloke and owned by Eamon Sinnott, a fourth win in 47 outings, with 13 places. Bellgrove was gaining compensation for being a neck second in the same race last year and Russell was full of praise for the job done by the trainer.
PJ McDonald is approaching his century of winners for 2018 with 13 wins in the past fortnight bringing his tally to 93. He had a treble at Wolverhampton on Thursday for three different trainers, with Powerful Dream (11/4f), Considered Opinion (13/8f) and Genuine Approval (2/1f),
He also won with Rufus King (7/1) at Chelmsford for regular supporter and neighbour in North Yorkshire, Mark Johnston. He has helped Johnston to the great feat of matching the total of Richard Hannon Snr (4,193) as Britain’s winningmost trainer of all time – now it’s just a matter of by how much Johnston will surpass a total that has long seemed unassailable.
McDonald won at Newmarket on Saturday on My Amigo (5/1) in the all-grey race.
Jumps jockey Daryl Jacob (Davidstown) has been taking things easy this summer and he has only had three rides in the past two weeks, two of them at separate meetings on Wednesday. He won at Newton Abbott on the very short priced Cracker Factory (1/8), but was beaten that night at Worcester on Desirable Court (4/6f) and on Jaleo for Ben Pauling at Southwell on Sunday.
If you thought those prices were short, what about Ummalnar ridden to victory by Ryan Moore for William Haggas at Chelmsford the same day – the price, 1/25. Bet €100 and you’d have got €104 back.