DAYS racing surely don’t get much better than the afternoon that Jonathan Fogarty experienced last Sunday.
Three runners at Lingstown produced three impressive winners in the ultra-competitive four-year-old maiden division by a combined winning distance of 78 lengths and, to top it all off, it was at his local track.
Sine Qua Non contributed 48 lengths towards that total with his demolition performance on debut, which was sandwiched on either side by victories for his stablemates, Jenny France and Kindly Prince.
It may be just over 10 years since Fogarty saddled his first winner in this sphere, but the Wexford operator, who is assisted by his brother Mikey, has emerged as a serious operator in the division in recent seasons.
That is particularly clear given the yard’s impressive strike rate, which has remained north of 25% for the fourth season running. Perhaps of even greater note, is the stable’s ability to win with close to half of the individual runners that they have had in those seasons. That not only highlights the ability to prepare and ready a horse to run, but also the particular prowess in sourcing horses.
Upwards trajectory
Five individual horses ran for the yard in the 2021/22 campaign, with three winning and, whilst the number of runners has increased, the winners have followed a similar trajectory. Last season’s strike rate reached 39%, courtesy of nine winners from 23 runners, a total that was generated from just 20 individual horses.
This season has already seen the Gaynestown Stud team win a four-year-old maiden with Hank West, who has since joined Willie Mullins, Umma House runner-up Reckless Spending was recently sold to Nicky Henderson for £200,000, while they were particularly unfortunate not to collect another four-year-old maiden in impressive fashion with final-fence casualty Major League.
Their rising fortunes have also contributed to an autumn season to remember for rider Barry Stone. The nephew of former rider-turned-handler Benny Walsh was aboard each of Fogarty’s three winners at Lingstown last Sunday and, as a result, only the defending champions, Barry O’Neill and Rob James, have ridden more winners than him this season.
Ten victories for the Cleariestown native, of which a notable six winners have come in the four-year-old division, have left the Fogarty’s go-to rider this season well on track to better his personal-best 14 winners from last season.
It’s certainly a team to follow, with the subsequent Grade 1-placed Down Memory Lane, who made a taking chasing debut at Navan recently for Gordon Elliott, likely set to fly the flag at a high level for the stable’s graduates from recent years, and last Sunday’s winners surely won’t be far behind him.
SHANE Cotter is nearing a return to the saddle, as his recovery continues from a leg injury that was suffered on the eve of the new season commencing.
The timing of the injury setback was particularly unfortunate for the Ballynoe native following a breakthrough initial campaign, which had seen him crowned champion under-21 rider in his first season riding between the flags.
“It was the worst timing,” Cotter admits. “The week before the new season was about to start, I got a kick from a horse coming down the gallop. I ended up breaking my shinbone and had to get pins put into it.
“It’s coming along now, so I will be back riding out this week and should be back racing from the first weekend in January.”
It was a barely believable first season for the 19-year-old, with his initial success only being recorded at Lingstown last December, just two months after his opening mount.
On the right track
However, from there, with the backing of Denis Murphy and David Christie, he went on to ride a total of 15 winners to secure the under-21 title, following in the footsteps of riders like John Thomas McNamara, Davy Russell and Derek O’Connor, while also ending his debut season in the top 10 on the overall leaderboard.
That unsurprisingly led to Cotter’s inclusion among five nominees in the point-to-point category for this year’s HRI Awards, which take place in Dublin on Monday night, a nod that has taken him aback.
“I’m looking forward to heading up to it,” he said. “It was unbelievable really to get the nomination, I didn’t think I would get nominated for anything like that.
“Last season was just brilliant, I didn’t think it would quite go as well as it did. If I had ridden a few winners, I would have been happy enough.”
The other nominees within the point-to-point category are David Christie, Rob James, Emmet Mullins and Barry O’Neill.
ATTENTION will swiftly turn to the start of the spring term in the coming weeks, with the current autumn campaign set to come to a close next weekend with racing at Boulta on Saturday, followed by Ballycrystal and Tattersalls on Sunday.
Dromahane once again kicks off the spring season with the traditional Christmas fixture, organised by the Duhallow Kanturk committee, on Monday, December 30th.
The IHRB have issued a bulletin informing handlers that hunter certificates need to be submitted by the close of business on Friday, December 6th, in order to be eligible to run at the fixture, for which entries will close on Tuesday, December 17th. In order to be eligible to run at either Tinahely or Ballindenisk on Sunday, January 5th, the deadline for hunter certificates is Friday, December 13th, with entries closing on New Year’s Eve, Tuesday, December 31st. While hunter certificates must be lodged by Friday, December 27th to be eligible for the January 12th fixture at Aghabullogue.
Point-to point Ratings
THERE is only one place to start last weekend’s review, and that is with the aforementioned 48-length debut victor Sine Qua Non (97++).
Conditions were challenging right throughout the card, a fact borne out in the 38 horses who were pulled up at the fixture, including nine of the 13 starters in this particular race alone.
However, it was a test that this French-bred devoured, catching out many of his rivals with his high cruising speed, as they began to drop out of contention in the back straight.
Impressively, he was then able to find another gear approaching the penultimate fence, which completely ended the race as a contest before even getting to the home straight.
His stablemate, Kindly Prince (95++), triumphed in the second division, a race which was run to a much stronger early pace due to the efforts of Jimmy Mango.
When that rival unsurprisingly cried enough, this newcomer went on to ensure the pace did not relent too much, ensuring he too recorded a wide-margin win by 16 lengths.
That margin only slightly bettered the 14 lengths that Jenny France (83++) claimed the earlier mares equivalent by, in another above-average display.
At Moig South, Home Made Hero (91+) never looked in any danger, despite the runner-up closing in the home straight, while on the previous afternoon, Rosa Diaz (81+) outbattled a previously placed rival, as the pair pulled 11 lengths clear of their rivals.
That was also the margin that Frankie John (91+) and Fresh Kicks (90+) had over their rivals, having fought out a tight finish, whilst Real Quartz (93+) won with any amount in hand, despite showing signs of greenness.