OVER the first two days of Cheltenham, there were no Northern-owned, trained or bred winners but Willie Mullins did pay tribute to the huge input of Harold Kirk into the success of his Closutton yard following the Co Carlow trainer’s 100th Festival victory on Wednesday.

Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s Jasmin De Vaux, the horse who brought up that amazing figure under the trainer’s son Patrick in the Grade 1 Weatherbys Champion Bumper, had landed a Naas bumper for the same connections on his only other racecourse start in late January.

However, the Tirwanako bay ran in the colours of his then trainer Stuart Crawford when winning a four-year-old geldings’ maiden at Loughanmore last April on his only outing between the flags.

He was ridden to that five-length success over his stable-companion Largy Poet by Ben Crawford.

Loughanmore is also called to mind when discussing Mullins’ first winner on Wednesday, Ballyburn, who, under Paul Townend, impressively landed the Grade 1 Gallagher Novices’ Hurdle to bring up a hat trick of victories from four starts over timber. Ronnie Bartlett and David Manasseh’s six-year-old Flemensfirth gelding also has two bumper wins, from two runs, to his credit. Ballyburn, as his name would suggest, was owned in the early part of his career by Wilson Dennison for whom he was trained at Loughanmore by Colin McKeever. The latter travelled the bay no further than across the fields to win the Dennison-sponsored four-year-old geldings’ maiden on the Co Antrim estate in October 2022 with Conor Abernethy in the saddle.

Hughes collects One More

BRIAN Hughes, the reigning and three-time champion British jumps jockey, hit the 100-mark for the 2023-’24 season last Thursday at Carlisle and did so on the Donald McCain-trained One More Stroke who was bred in Northern Ireland.

This was a second success from two runs over hurdles for the five-year-old Pour Moi gelding who had also scored under Hughes at Catterick in January. On his only other racecourse start, the bay had finished second in the same hands in a Musselburgh bumper in mid-December.

Number of winners

One More Stroke had also filled the runner-up slot in two four-year-old point-to-point maidens here in February 2023, the second being under his then trainer, Rob James, at Farmacaffley where he was beaten one and a half lengths by the Warren Ewing-trained, Dara McGill-ridden Intense Approach.

I hold my hands up here, I didn’t realise until last week that One More Stroke’s breeder, Aisling Leer, lived in Brian Hughes’s native county of Armagh where, at their Ashmore Farm, she and husband John have bred a number of winners, most of whom were sold at Goffs. The son of Pour Moi was sold by the Leers as a foal at Kildare Paddocks in 2019 to Ian Buchanan who, in turn, sold him as a three-year-old to James at Tattersalls Ireland in May 2022.

The dual hurdle winner is the third of just five recorded foals to date out of the 2003 Oscar mare Square Sphere who won a bumper and three hurdle races. The dam’s first foal was the 2014 Flemensfirth mare Deilginis who won two hurdles and two chases for Joseph O’Brien.

Unfortunately, Brian Hughes has only ridden one more winner since hitting the ton last week, partnering the Lucy Wadham-trained favourite Pearly Island to victory in a handicap chase at Huntingdon on Wednesday.

Derek Fox notched up four wins in the past week or so, recording a double at Ayr on Saturday; Danny McMenamin partnered a winner at the same track on Friday and one at Kelso on Sunday; Donegal’s Luke Turner recorded his first win at Gowran on Saturday; and Simon Torrens was on the mark at Limerick on Sunday. On the flat, there were wins last Friday for Patsy Cosgrave at Meydan and for Dylan Browne McMonagle at Dundalk and, on Wednesday, for Oisin Orr at Newcastle.

On the training front, there was a win on the Bar One Racing-sponsored card at Naas on Sunday for Anthony McCann who sent out the All Four Counties Syndicate’s Familiar Dreams to land the mares’ bumper under Aine O’Connor.

THERE were a couple of interesting locally bred winners recently, with Patricia Doran being responsible for Lightonthewing who scored at Wincanton last Thursday week, while her husband, Danny, bred Queens Melody, who obliged at Hereford on Saturday.

Saddled by Sue Gardner to win the three-mile, one-furlong handicap chase at Wincanton, the nine-year-old Winged Love gelding Lightonthewing is the first of just three recorded foals out of the unraced Generous mare Neat ‘n Nimble, an own-sister to Drop Out Joe.

Trained by the very much in-form Ben Pauling, Queens Melody was making her racecourse debut when landing the mares’ bumper at Hereford by two and three-quarter lengths from the 85/40 favourite Walkadina, who too was having her first start on the track.

Interestingly, both mares were ridden in point-to-points here by Troy Walsh – Walkadina when third on her only start in a Boulta maiden last November and Queens Melody when second on her debut at Ballyragget this time last year.

Third winner

Next time out, that 2019 Jukebox Jury bay finished third in an Umma House maiden in October under Derek O’Connor. Queens Melody is the fifth of eight foals, and the third winner, out of the unraced Tikkanen mare Sixofone, a half-sister to the Grade 1 French chase winner Polivalente (by Polliglote) and the multiple listed jumps winner Grand Souvenir (by Legend Of France). This is also the family of Roi Des Francs and Killyglass. Sixofone is now owned by Danny and Patricia’s son, Daniel.

Also over jumps, there were wins for the Ned Carlisle-bred seven-year-old gelding Getaway Master (Getaway – Grange Oscar, by Oscar) at Limerick on Sunday and for the Metcalfe family-bred nine-year-old gelding Baddesley (Presenting) at Plumpton the following afternoon.

Invincible Army

On the flat, among the winners were the John and Margery Adams-bred three-year-old filly So Obsessed (Invincible Army) at Chelmsford on Saturday; the Brian and Ann Marie Kennedy-bred eight-year-old gelding Absolute Dream (Dream Ahead) at Southwell on Sunday; the Tom Foy-bred gelding Bossy Parker (Kodiac) at Wolverhampton on Monday; and the McCracken Farms-bred three-year-old colt Superb Force (Night Of Thunder) at Newcastle on Wednesday.

North Down point-to-point memories

THERE was a plethora of advertisements in last week’s issue of The Irish Field, including one on this page for Plusvital Racing Syrup.

Good for the newspaper’s finances, but not so good for this column, as it meant there wasn’t enough room for my piece on previous North Down point-to-points on the day that the pack held its second meeting in 2024 at Kirkistown.

Anyway, as there is no local fixture today and the work was done, I decided to include a shortened version of the piece this week.

The North Downs held its sole point-to-point of 1994 on Saturday, April 2nd, at Craiganlet, where there was a seven-race card but very few finishers on the soft to heavy going.

Robert Patton completed a double, finishing alone in the seven-runner winners’ of two on Millbrook Lad and landing the unplaced maiden on Fiddlers Glen, who was followed home by just two of his 13 rivals.

There were only three finishers also in the confined hunt lightweight, won by Julia Murdoch, in both divisions of the maiden won by Brian Hamilton and Paddy Graffin and in the mares’ maiden won by Kevin Rossa.

All three starters in the open lightweight completed, led home by John O’Connell. The pack’s second point-to-point of 2004, on Saturday, March 20th, was held, like the first, at Comber where, on the six-race card, Brian Hamilton recorded a double.

Rory Lavery landed the winners’ of three, Robert Widger claimed the five and six-year-old maiden, Ronan McNally had little trouble winning the open, and the seven-year-old and upwards maiden was won by Tommy Peoples.

Three locally-trained favourites won at Kirkistown on Saturday, March 15th, 2014, partnered by Mark O’Hare, Noel McParlan and Deckie Lavery.

Another local rider on the mark was Ben Crawford, while there were wins also for Barry O’Neill and Derek O’Connor.

St Patrick’s Day meeting

HOPEFULLY the weather will be on side for the Bluegrass Horse Feeds’ St Patrick’s Day meeting at Down Royal. Last year, there was just one locally-trained winner, Ray Nicholas’ Ultimate Optimist, who David Christie saddled to win his second hunters’ chase as the 6/5 favourite under Alex Harvey.