MANY congratulations to Downpatrick’s Richard Curran who saddled his first racecourse winner when the Maxine O’Sullivan-ridden The Jam Man landed the extended three-mile, one-furlong handicap hurdle at Catterick on Wednesday.

Supported in to 9/2 from 11/2 on course, the five-year-old Papal Bull gelding is just one of two horses Richard has for the track this season. In the past five years, he has had 11 runners in Ireland and the same number in Britain, The Jam Man having finished sixth of eight over a similar trip at Ayr last month.

While Richard has had numerous winners between the flags, he is probably better known as a talent scout on the point-to-point circuit and, as mentioned in this paper’s The Big Interview of February 9th, found Perfect Candidate for his good friend Fergal O’Brien who trains the Hugh Suffern-bred Winged Love gelding.

On Wednesday, The Jam Man won by seven lengths from Broadway Belle whose rider, Brian Hughes, had earlier won the near two-mile selling handicap hurdle on the Runyon gelding Discoverie whose trainer, Ken Slack is another who sources horses through Curran.

In a very quiet period, Toals ambassador Hughes also rode one winner at Southwell on Monday while, on the bumpers for jumpers card at the same course last Friday, he recorded a treble.