THE entries for this weekend’s action reflect the ever-increasing depth within the mares’ division of the four-year-old age category.

Two of tomorrow’s three fixtures will feature separate four-year-old races for mares and geldings, and interestingly, at both Ballycahane and Borris House, it is the mares’ maiden within this age group that has attracted the larger entry when compared with the geldings’ equivalent.

There are 33 horses entered for the four-year-old mares’ maiden at Borris House tomorrow, and 27 at Ballycahane, which trumps the 29 and 24 entries for the four-year-old geldings’ maiden races on those respective cards.

Last Sunday’s sole surviving fixture at Lisronagh kickstarted the new year of races in the category, with a 12-strong line-up for the maiden that was ultimately won in very impressive fashion by Mick Goff’s Clondaw Park.

That is one of 27 four-year-old mares’ maiden races to feature in an expanded programme for the spring term.

Tomorrow’s race in Borris House is a new addition to that particular card, where it takes the place of the five-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden.

Financial plus

The boost in entries that it has brought to the card is a financial plus for the hunt committee, and many more committees are choosing to do likewise.

With the exception of today’s rescheduled card at Kildorrery, the other 26 committees in the spring term who have a four-year-old mares’ maiden on their card, also have a four-year-old geldings’ maiden.

For organisers, the four-year-old age group can be a big source of entry revenues, with a third of hunter certificates last season coming from that particular cohort.

But it is not just the hunt committees that are reaping a reward from the growth within this category. Owners and handlers, too, see the greater commercial rewards that can now be sought from trading younger mares with pointing form.

In each of the past two seasons, it has been a four-year-old mare that has claimed the title of being the most expensive point-to-point horse sold at public auction, showing the appetite that is out there.

Handlers are certainly now willing to meet that demand, and that is clear to see in the growing number of young mares being introduced into the pointing sphere at present.

Last season, a total of 230 hunter certificates were issued for four-year-old mares, a figure that has risen by over 200% in the space of 10 years.

Those growing numbers are producing even more competitive racing, and tomorrow’s action is sure to be the latest examples of that.

Irish have top four in Festival Hunter Chase

THE final set of entries for the upcoming Cheltenham Festival were published on Tuesday, and for point-to-point enthusiasts, they included the all-important potential runners for the St. James’s Place Festival Hunter Chase.

After a disappointingly small turnout for last year’s renewal, the signs are far more encouraging for this year’s race which will place on March 14th. Twelve months ago, there were only 19 entries for the blue ribbon race in the hunter chase calendar, which produced a field of just 12 by race day.

That was the smallest turnout for the race since the 1998 edition which had been won by Earthmover.

However, the final field for this year’s renewal should return closer to the maximum field size of 24, after 31 entries were received for the race, which is now just 13 days away.

Encouragingly, Irish runners account for almost half of the field, with a total of 14 entries, which includes the top four horses in the revised ante-post market following the publication of entries.

Dawn leads

Sam Curling’s former festival heroine Angels Dawn heads the market, as she bids to become the second mare in a row to claim the festival hunter chase following on from the victory of Sine Nomine last year.

Its On The Line finished second in each of the last two renewals, and Emmet Mullins’ charge has finished placed in each of his two starts this season as he bids to make it third time lucky, whilst Sean Doyle’s Willitgoahead, and the Ross O’Sullivan-trained Ryehill, two horses that have been victorious in hunter chase company in recent weeks, complete the quartet of Irish-trained horses who are currently available at single-figure odds.

Curling is the only Irish trainer with two entries in the race, as in addition to the current favourite, he could also run the dual open winner Wonderwall, with the remaining Irish entries Carnfunnock (Stuart Crawford), Fountain House (Ian McCarthy), Lisleigh Lad (Eleanor Broderick), Ontheropes (Tom Mullins), Priory Park (Edward O’Grady), Rocky’s Howya (Declan Queally), West Of Carrig (Don Browne), Cloudy Tuesday (Turlough O’Connor), and Plan Of Attack (Henry de Bromhead).

They will all be seeking to reverse the fortunes of Irish-trained runners in the race of late, with the prize remaining on British soil in six of the last eight editions, including for the past two years.

That relative drought followed the six consecutive Irish victories between 2011 and 2016, and so hopes will be high that this year’s winner will be the 14th Irish-trained since 1946.

News

THE Tipperary Foxhounds fixture at Lisronagh was the sole surviving point-to-point from last Sunday’s three scheduled cards.

The cancelled Kildorrery fixture has been rescheduled for this afternoon, bringing this weekend’s fixtures to five. However, the Bray Harriers fixture in Tinahely has been abandoned.

It had been originally due to take place on Sunday, February 16th, but it was one of three fixtures postponed as a mark of respect following the passing of Michael O’Sullivan.

The card at Nenagh, which was also scheduled for that Sunday, February 16th, has been rescheduled to next Saturday, March 8th, and fresh entries for the six races at the North Tipperary Foxhounds fixture close this coming Tuesday.

Point-to-point Ratings

DESPITE all three of last Saturday’s four-year-old maiden races being run over two and a half miles, the shorter trip in the testing conditions did not prove to be a significant appeal for connections with small fields in all three.

Four of the five starters finished at Punchestown, where Heldam (93+) travelled with great ease through the race before snugly accounting for another promising individual, Lord Rouge, as the pair pulled 16 lengths clear.

There were just three starters at Farmacaffley, where Skerry Hill (92+) had too many gears for Bergamasquo, which allowed him to have victory sewn up heading into the dip, whilst Best Trump (88+) was not tested at Knockanard as two of his rivals exiting four-out.

Clondaw Park (85+) started the new year of four-year-old mares’ maiden races with a bang when she made all of the running to defeat 11 rivals at Lisronagh on Sunday. She had any number of rivals in her slipstream along the back straight, but she cruised through the gears off the home bend to cross the line hard held for an eight-length victory. She looks well above average.

Strongly run

Colin Bowe claimed both divisions of the geldings’ equivalent. The first split was strongly run and it served up a great battle between two exciting prospects in Cristal D’Estruval (92+) and No Walkover.

Both made errors at the last, whilst the runner-up further harmed his chances by drifting to the left, which was costly given the tight margin between them.

The second division was run to a much steadier tempo as Cooltobecareless (89+) showed a willing attitude to come back from an error three-out.