THERE were very few Northern-bred winners during the period under review and the ones that stood out the most were on the National Hunt scene.

Chief among these was the well-named, Roger McGrath-trained Miss Eyecatcher who landed the two and a half mile Cheesestrings Mares Novice Chase at Listowel last Sunday on her second start over fences.

Beaten two and a quarter lengths into second over two miles, six and a half furlongs on good ground at Killarney last month, the six-year-old King’s Theatre mare made all on heavy ground on Sunday, justifying her odds of 5/4 favouritism by eight and a half lengths under David Mullins.

As mentioned in this column previously, Miss Eyecatcher was bred by the Berry family in Dromore out of the Generous mare Miss Generosity, a half-sister to Battlecry (by Accordion) and Value At Risk.

The trio are out of the Midlands National winner, Miss Orchestra.

BULLER’s WINNERS

Alfred Buller bred two of the week’s winners, the eight-year-old Desert King gelding King Alfonso, who landed the extended two-mile novices’ chase at Worcester on Tuesday for the Dai Burchell yard, and the Phil York-trained Spiritofchartwell. The latter, a nine-year-old gelding by Clerkenwell, recorded his first racecourse success at Fontwell on Sunday in the near two and a quarter mile handicap chase.

The Francis Small-bred Helissio gelding The Clock Leary notched up his fourth success over fences on Monday at Perth where Brian Hughes recorded a double, moving him on to the 28-win mark for the season.

Downpatrick native Paddy Mathers continues to notch up the winners since his return from surgery early in the year and followed up a double for his boss Richard Fahey at Chester on September 3 by landing a division of the seven-furlong handicap at Newcastle last Friday for the Gillian Boanas yard.