THE younger-age maidens at Monksgrange were something of an outlier from the evidence of recent weeks in that both four-year-old maidens on the card alongside the five-year-old geldings’ maiden were won by Irish-bred horses.

Of the five fixtures staged last weekend, the Monksgrange results were the only ones to boost such a clean sweep of victories for domestically-bred youngsters, as the growing influence of French-bred horses in particular within the point-to-point sphere has become all the more noticeable.

Focussing specifically on the commercially important four-year-old maiden age division, the results from the early weeks of the 2023 spring term have illustrated the success French-bred horses are now having within this section of the season.

Of the 34 four-year-old only races run since the new four-year-old season started at the beginning of February, 17 have been won by Irish-bred horses, 12 by French-bred horses and five British-bred horses.

French-bred horses currently only account for 17% of the four-year-old hunter certificates, yet they have won 35% of the races within the early exchanges in the division.

Once dominant

The early successes this season for French-bred horses is significantly eating into the once dominant position that Irish-bred horses had within the category 10 years ago, when you consider that at the same point of the 2013 four-year-old campaign, Irish-bred horses had won 80% of the four-year-old maiden races.

French-bred horses have long had a reputation for their precociousness, so it is perhaps no surprise that considering the transformation that the pointing sphere has undergone in the past 15 years, and the stronger commercial element to four-year-old races at present, that handlers have been drawn to this trait.

Recent sales’ results illustrate the riches that can be sought from the early months of the new four-year-old campaign.

It would appear that handlers have identified the precociousness of French-bred horses as being a helpful asset for this early part of the season in particular.

After all, last autumn’s results saw the expected status quo play out with Irish-bred horses dominating, winning 40 of the 48 autumn four-year-old maiden races.

Results from the four-year-old maiden division in the weeks to come will undoubtedly be closely observed to see if the pendulum begins to swing back in favour of the domestically-bred rivals as they seek to re-establish their dominant position by the season’s end.

JAMES Hannon has had his 21-day suspension successfully reduced following a hearing in front of the appeals panel.

The reigning joint-southern champion would effectively have been ruled out for the remainder of the season by the initial punishment that had been handed down to him after he was involved in what he had described as ‘a minor altercation’ where he stated that he grabbed the shoulder of fellow rider Mikey O’Connor after crossing the line following the older geldings’ maiden at the Duhallow fixture in Kildorrery on February 19th.

Under that initial suspension, Hannon would only have been able to return for the final two days of the season, but having appealed the decision of the referral committee, he has had the suspension reduced down to just seven days. He will now be permitted to return to point-to-point race riding after the upcoming Easter bank holiday weekend.

The initial 21-day suspension had been met with universal surprise due to the perceived harshness of the penalty.

It was particularly difficult to understand how the initial referral committee had come to their 21-day suspension when only months earlier, another rider in the point-to-point sphere had received a seven-day suspension following a physical altercation with a fellow rider at Tattersalls in mid-December.

Whether an incident is dealt with by the stewards on the day, as was the case at Tattersalls, or at a subsequent referral committee as in Hannon’s case, the very basic expectation a rider should have is that consistency will be applied across the board.

This was disappointingly absent in that initial 21-day suspension and whilst rectified at the subsequent appeals hearing, an appeal should not have been required.

UNFORTUNATELY the northern region has been worst hit by the recent spell of wet weather as the fixture which was scheduled for this afternoon in Taylorstown was cancelled on Monday evening due to unsuitable ground conditions.

This is the third Saturday in succession that a fixture scheduled in the region has been hit, with Portrush (March 18th), Moira (March 25th) and now Taylorstown (April 1st) all unable to take place on their scheduled dates.

Thankfully owners and handlers in the region were given some reprieve as the Route hunt commendably battled through the mud to run their rearranged fixture a week later than scheduled last Saturday.

However, with original entries standing for the Portrush fixture there is likely to be something of a backup of horses in the region who have not been able to be entered in the past two weeks which could see the East Antrim hunt rewarded at their always popular two-day fixture across the upcoming Easter bank holiday weekend.

Point-to-point Ratings

SAN Frandisco (94+) made amends for his penultimate fence departure at Tallow in February by making all at Monksgrange in tactics that have so often reaped rewards for his connections.

He did however have to survive late dramas with a slipped saddle but had a sufficient advantage by then.

Diamonds For Luck (92x) ironically was not as fortunate as he came down at the last when in front at Ballynoe, his second late fall within the space of seven days.

However, he has to be given maximum respect for producing that performance so swiftly after his debut in Liscarroll given the conditions. Illico De Cotte (93+) clocked a particularly quick time to win the five-year-old maiden on the same card.

He looks above average and his stablemate Worldwide Fury (93+) also mastered testing conditions to win in Portrush. The front pair in this look smart track prospects in the making.

At Lisronagh, Just Gino (92+) was left in front with a faller two-out as the front pair ultimately pulled clear of the form horse in the race, while Nas Na Riogh (92+) battled back having been headed in the straight to back-up the promise of his Cragmore debut. The first two in this are worthy of note.