Richard Pugh

The Killultagh, Old Rock and Chichester hunt committee had to abandon the first day of their two-day meeting due to the lack of ambulance cover.

Saturday’s racing got underway without incident and free entry was being offered to patrons who had been present the previous evening. The yielding ground condition attracted 18 four-year-olds to be declared for the opening race. This was the first divided four-year-old maiden of 2016, although there were five divides in this division in the autumn.

Colin Bowe recorded his 12th four-year-old winner of 2016 when Getabird took the Dennisons Commercials four-year-old geldings’ maiden, division one, under Barry O’Neill, who has partnered nine of these winners.

In the 2015 spring season Donnchadh Doyle trained nine such winners while Gordon Elliott recorded eight; with a few weeks still to go in the season Bowe could record a figure which may not be matched for many years to come.

There were two noteworthy performances in this opening division. Getabird (3-4/1) for the Bowe/O’Neill combination, provided the second Irish winner from Getaway’s first crop of four-year-olds.

Having his second start, the bay was helped by the departure of the debutant Storm Home who fell at the final fence, holding the advantage having made all.

Bowe commented of the winner: “Barry said he thought the mistake four out would finish him so he had to give him time to recover. He was impressed how strongly he came back at them and I think he is a very nice horse who could be useful over shorter distances.’’

Division two went to a very smart debutant in the form of Natter Jack Croak (4/1). Tipperary owner Pat Coffey is enjoying a good run of form of late having sold Loughrea maiden winner Lough Derg Leader at the Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale the previous day.

EIGHTH WINNER

This son of Gold Well is trained in Wexford by Denis Murphy who was having his eighth winner of the current campaign. Dropped out, in the rear of the field by Jamie Codd, the four-year-old was still last at the tightly packed field approached the final fence. The winner showed an impressive turn of foot to go from last to first in a matter of strides keeping on up the run in to win by four lengths from the Gigginstown House Stud owned Gun Digger. Connections indicated that the winner will now be sold.

Jamie Codd recorded a quick double when riding his third winner this season for handler Pat Doyle. Kaiser Black (3/1) got off the mark in the Albert Bartlett five-year-old geldings’ maiden on the third attempt having finished second on his first two starts. Benefiting from another patient ride from the eastern and senior champion rider elect, the Germany-sired gelding had to dig deep in the closing stages to see off Castlegrace Paddy by a head in a driving finish.

Pat Doyle said: “This is a lovely horse who ran very well on debut. I was disappointed with him next time out even though he was second but he subsequently scoped wrong and he was back right today.’’

The northern rider’s title has been all but secured by Mark O’Hare. He is now on the 19 winner mark in the north (22 overall) and with only four days of racing left in the region he is almost double his nearest pursuer Barry O’Neill. This is O’Hare’s best tally since the 2006/07 season and considering his cumulative tally for the previous three seasons is 24, this had been a remarkable resurgence by the senior rider.

George Stewart who has provided six of his winner trains Castle Clyde (2/1 favourite) who took the Stonebridge Premium Feeds five-year-old and upwards adjacent maiden in good fashion. The son of Presenting was having only his third start when seeing off his eight rivals. Positioned prominently throughout, the five-year-old caught the eye travelling very well into the race on the run to the final fence. A good jump at the last obstacle sealed victory as the chesnut stayed on dourly to win by three lengths.

The smallest field of the day went to post in the Porter & Co mares’ winners of three which was taken by Mystic Theatre (1/1 favourite). The Colin McBratney trained five-year-old was following up on a victory around Loughanmore at the end of March.

Ridden by 2015 northern champion rider Noel McParlan, the Kings Theatre mare was settled in at the rear of the field and she then made rapid headway on the inner after the penultimate obstacle.

The bay stayed on well after hitting the front to win by six lengths from Kinnacally who has been successful twice already this season. Her owner Rose Boyd, who is better known for her joint ownership of Hurricane Fly, was too busy to celebrate the success as she was on duty at the meeting, being a joint-master of the Killultagh Hunt, but is due to step down from that role shortly.

She was represented by her husband, Frank, who commented: “We really like this mare, she has plenty of speed. I would say she will probably go to the track now.’’

CHAMPION POINTER

Anseanachai Cliste (3-4/1) is now in contention for the champion pointer award having won his fourth open of the season for the McConvilles. With four horses on the same number of wins for the season this title is likely to go down to the wire.

The son of Bach had a spell running between the flags in Britain before being bought for only £2,500 at Doncaster Sales last May. The-eight-year old showed a fantastic attitude as he battled hard for his second success in a week. Always prominent, he went clear with two of his rivals after the second last, but both Valmey Baie (second) and Quiet Account (third) were unable to stay with him from the final fence and he went on to win by three lengths.

According to his connections: “He has been in top form since we had his wind done, we were very worried about the ground but he handled it so well. He is qualified for the hunt race at Necarne so hopefully he can find another one there.’’

The final race of the day saw Johnny Kinsella record his second winner of the season on Chelate (5-6/1). The Philip Rothwell trained seven-year-old was having just his fifth run having contested three maiden hurdles before reverting to points.

Given an enterprising front-running ride the winner was soon a distance clear. The son of Nigrasine was reeled back in by his rivals and headed after the last but he rallied again close home to win by a head from the Ray Barron-ridden Gatesoffrance.

Goodwill gesture

A misunderstanding between the Killultagh, Old Rock & Chichester Hunt committee and the ambulance company led to the first day of the fixture being cancelled as there was insufficient cover for the meeting.

Some racegoers were reimbursed their admission cost and were able to exchange Friday’s race card for Saturday’s fixture, but it was impossible to compensate everyone. The Killultagh Hunt decided to donate £1,000 to the Children’s Cancer Ward at the Belfast City Hospital as a gesture of goodwill.