THE start of each new season marks the arrival of a new influx of former track performers to compete in the open lightweight division and this year is no different.
While the likes of Some Man, It Came To Pass, Marinero, Brain Power and Lough Derg Spirit, who were all winners in the division last season, have either made their return or have received hunter certs to indicate their return is imminent, they will be joined by many interesting new recruits to the sphere, a number of which hold entries this weekend.
Gordon Elliott is responsible for two of the early headline names in the shape of former Grade 1 victors Samcro and The Storyteller.
The former had carried a lofty reputation throughout much of his career since winning his four-year-old maiden at Monksgrange for Colin Bowe.
The now 10-year-old has struggled to recapture the best of his form in the past 12 months, having been last seen in competitive action when pulling-up in a Grade 3 event at Killarney. He is a three-time Grade 1 winner, including twice at the Cheltenham festival.
His return to the pointing fields, which could be at either Portrush this afternoon or Tinahely tomorrow, will be in new ownership as he will be carrying the silks of Elliott’s travelling head girl Camilla Sharples, colours that have been carried to success in the pointing sphere in recent seasons by Mighty Stowaway and the 2019 joint-champion point-to-point horse Kruzhlinin.
New addition
Those colours could also feature this weekend with a new addition to the Elliott stable in the form of Poseidon, a Grade B chase winner at Cork 12 months ago when with Charles Byrnes.
Stable companion The Storyteller is himself a two-time winner in Grade 1 company over fences, with the now 11-year-old having achieved his biggest victory when landing the Grade 1 Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal in 2020, and he was entered at the neighboring Moira course last Saturday but connections did not take up the engagement. The Elliott pair are joined by Castlebawn West who is the latest former Willie Mullins horse to find his way to the Crossgar stables of Colin McBratney.
The nine-year-old son of Westerner has not been seen in competitive action since he beat the subsequent Aintree Grand National winner Minella Times in the 2020 Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown.
The Co Down handler has already struck gold with another former Mullins horse in Marito whom he sent out to finish second in the 2016 Cheltenham Foxhunters, denied by the narrowest of margins by On The Fringe.
Robin Des Foret and Francin are other former Mullins inmates that have received hunter certificates for their new connections of Gerald Quinn and John Berry, with Quinn also preparing Notebook for a point-to-point campaign.
The former dual Grade 1 winning novice chaser was bought by Ian Ferguson and Philip McBurney for £37,000 from the Gigginstown House Stud dispersal at the Goffs UK September horse in training sale.
However, spring targets in some of the season’s marquee hunter chases in Britain look highly unlikely for both Notebook and Samcro. The pair finished first and second respectively in the Grade 2 Fortria Chase at Navan in November 2021, performances which would make them ineligible for all of this season’s hunter chases in Britain under the BHA rules.
With Ex Patriot also now destined for the pointing sphere having received a hunter certificate for his long-time trainer Ellmarie Holden, there will be no shortage of red-hot races in the division in the coming weeks.
DESPITE approaching his 12th birthday at the end of the year, Brain Power (116+) looked to have arguably stepped-up on his form from last year when he produced a dominant performance on his seasonal bow to comfortably account for the race-fit Some Man.
Good ground clearly brings out the best of him, ensuring weather conditions may dictate how much we see of him during the winter months, however he could be set for a very rewarding spring if maintaining this form.
Tullyhill (90+) made a serious error at the final fence yet had enough in the tank to pick up again and win narrowly, although he would certainly look value for the winning margin, and is an early season winner to follow, while in the same colours Gorthill (86++) should have little trouble backing-up against fellow winners in the coming week after dominating from the front in the older maiden.