IT has been some week for Aidan Caffrey.

From first ever winner, which came in a C class drivers race, to taking a heat and final with Messrs Richardson, Roche and Kane down the field.

Seamus Corey of Belfast made the unconventional driver booking and the 17-year-old didn’t let him down.

Fairdays Western was Caffrey’s conveyance. The seven-year-old gelding has shown glimpses of talent over the past three seasons, without setting the world alight. 1.56.7 in the heat, and 1.58 in the Track Bar sponsored final are by some way lifetime bests for the son of The Preacher Pan.

Corey swims his horses a lot at the north Belfast yard, prompting one cynic to ask was the pool filled with holy water! All joking aside, this was a popular victory for one of the game’s most sporting families. Seamus, now in his 70s, is one of the last generation actually to deliver goods with a carthorse!

Seamus and son Kevin were not so fortunate in the B to D trot where the mare Amitie Briangault ran second to the useful Bolero De La Fye with Donal Murphy. A third chesnut was involved in the finish, namely Balarou Des Iles (A Wallace), a gelding that has been on the go since week one back in April.

Incidentally, I neglected to mention that Donal Murphy scored an enviable milestone during his recent trip to the Red Mile, Kentucky.

While in the area for the yearling sales, the Innis Beg Stables main patron Bill Donovan put Murphy up on a two-year-old filly in a $10,000 contest. The Corkman was unplaced but it was a pleasure to see the quiet green and white colours and the familiar slightly hunched profile of Donal Murphy sitting in the pack with Gingras, Miller and Tetrick. His experience will make Bandon next June seem a bit tame.

Proceedings opened with a slight upset when the filly Newtown Amber (Alan Wallace) overturned the Crossmaglen-owned Rock Show (J Richardson). Both animals are bred to go faster than 2.02.8 but then in October the times recorded tend to slow by a second or so.

Patrick Kane junior reeled off a third and fourth race double with On Top Jeremys Jet and Maximus Lad, both in the ‘every post a winning post’ style. I still await the official tally but I imagine John Richardson is beyond catching in the inaugural The Irish Field leading driver title.

Patrick regularly clocks up 20 or more winners from a book of horses not as classy as Richardson’s. The Trim-based farrier will be champion someday – you read it here first!

Jack Killeen took a while to break his duck but now the flood won’t stop coming. Verdi De Croay was scratched on Sunday but the veteran (he is 12) Rocky Atout in the D to F trot proved an able stand-in. Valiant De Gueham (B Roche) put in his usual honest effort to be second.

Roche has made no secret of his fondness for the three-year-old French filly Efficacite. He was able to really ask her during the first quarter unlike early in the season when both horse and driver were on egg shells. The vibes at Roche’s barn near the track must have been positive as the usual “shrewdies” were seen in the betting ring.

Soprano Gede and Sean Kane love the clockwise trots.

In Sunday’s edition they looked beaten but got a dream run up the inner to see off cousin Patrick (Rohan Des Thirons). The gate horse, Record Dream, (A Malone) set sharp fractions but faded at the business end.

The faces backed Best Of Burois for the top grade trot. JR made no mistake here, buzzing the six-year-old out of the gate with urgency. The pair dictated the pace, and the perennial champion even had the luxury of taking a pull at the mile pole. The other four runners looked tired, while the Meadowbranch outfit have picked the winner’s races all season. A time of 3.04.4 on an 800 metre track would not be out of place in the gelding’s homeland.

The Track Bar Final was marred by a spill effectively knocking out all the better class animals who were at the back as their handicap dictated. The aforementioned Fairdays Western had slipped the field when this happened, so the result was never in doubt.

I came upon the tall first season driver (Aidan Caffrey) walking home with his kit bag, “I’m on a roll” was the pleasant young man’s comment. Seemingly he bought five copies of the previous week’s The Irish Field, so here’s to another five copies gone off the shelves this morning too! Greg Dean’s genuine Lucky Cam was runner-up.

This Sunday October 22nd will be the penultimate meeting of the season at the venue. First race 2pm. Access the track from Campions Bar, Balgriffin or Kinsealy chapel.