THE Unionville, Pennsylvania yard of Banbridge native Paddy Young and his trainer wife Leslie had plenty to celebrate, following the half-length success of Too Friendly in the Grade 1 Colonial Cup Sport of Kings Hurdle at Camden, South Carolina last Sunday.

Ridden by Jamie Bargary, the six-year-old British-bred Camelot gelding ran in the colours of Irvin Naylor who, with his wife Diane, was represented on Sunday by Jacqueline Ohrstrom. They had a second winner on the day in the shape of the Irish-bred, Gerard Galligan-ridden Gold Charm, a five-year-old Golden Horn mare.

Too Friendly was bred at their Stetchworth and Middle Park Studs by the Gredley family, for whom the bay won five times over hurdles and twice on the flat when trained first by Dan Skelton and then James Owen. In July, he was consigned to Tattersalls Newmarket where, in a private sale, he was purchased by HM Bloodstock for 55,000gns.

He had three previous starts since his move Stateside, finishing third last time out in the Grade 1 William H. Allison Sport of Kings Hurdle at Great Meadow.

In winning last Sunday, Too Friendly provided Young and Baragry with a first success in the Colonial Cup, while Naylor won it back in in 2011 with the US-bred Tax Ruling.

UNFORTUNATELY, pressure on space meant this column didn’t appear last Saturday and it would be difficult to mention all the locally-owned, trained, ridden and bred winners over the past two weeks.

We’ll put a bit of emphasis on local breeders who had winners since last Thursday and, working backwards, these include the Emma Lavelle-trained Ma Shantou who justified 4/5 favouritism in the two-mile, five-furlong novices’ hurdle at Warwick on Wednesday.

Winner of a bumper at Huntingdon in early March, the five-year-old Shantou gelding was bred by Michael and Leonard Cave out of the Great Pretender mare Ma Pretention, who won over hurdles herself in France.

Ma Shantou is the fourth of eight foals, and is the second winner, out of his dam who this year had a filly by the now Boardsmill Stud-based Sumbal.

We had to look further afield to find a locally-bred winner on Sunday, but we did at Jebel Ali where the Northern Bloodstock Agency-bred Attwaal, who was making his debut, landed the six-furlong maiden on dirt. The three-year-old Invincible Army gelding is the third of four foals out of Arjeed, a half-sister to the Observatory mare Nidhaal and from the family of Assert and Bikala.

McGuinness double

Bringing up a double for trainer Ado McGuinness, the six-furlong handicap at Dundalk last Friday evening was won by the Kuroshio gelding Dontspoilasale, who is owned by Bart O’Sullivan, Mark Devlin, Nigel O’Hare and Philip Smith.

The bay was bred by Pat Turley out of the Naaqoos mare Destiny’s Kitten.

The previous evening at Chelmsford, the opening seven-furlong maiden for two-year-old fillies was won by the McCracken Farms-bred English Lady who was a 33/1 shot on her debut. The bay daughter of Inns Of Court is the third of five foals out of the Makfi mare English Queen who, this year, had a colt by Yorgunnabelucky.

Earlier in the day at Taunton, the extended two-mile novices’ hurdle was won by the Jukebox Jury mare Jukebox Annie, a five-year-old bred by Jeremy Maxwell and the first foal out of the Layman mare Ismane, a six-time winner in France from the family of State Man.

BANGOR’s Chloe Ferris has been appointed Commercial Director at Down Royal where preparations are well in-hand for their Boxing Day meeting, before which there’s the Christmas Party Night on Friday, December 13th.

With an impressive career spanning over 15 years, Chloe brings a wealth of experience to the team, having held key roles in developing and executing strategic growth plans across various industries, excelling in brand development and cultivating strong customer and stakeholder relationships.

Speaking about her new position, she said: “I am truly excited to embark on my new role as Commercial Director at Down Royal Racecourse. This is an iconic venue with a proud heritage and I look forward to not only growing the business and brand, but also enhancing the overall Down Royal experience for all visitors and racing enthusiasts.”

Emma Meehan, Chief Executive Officer at Down Royal, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Chloe to the team. Her extensive experience and passion for delivering results, makes her the perfect fit for this role. We are confident that Chloe will play a pivotal role in elevating the commercial success of Down Royal and driving its future growth.”

RATHMULLEN’s Oisin Orr was crowned Donegal Sports Star of the Year for 2023, thanks to his win in the Bahrain International Trophy on Spirit Dancer and could well land the title again following his repeat victory on the Richard Fahey-trained Frankel gelding last Friday.

Orr, who struck the front 50 yards out and went on to score by one and a quarter lengths, returned to the No 1 spot to be greeted by delighted owners Sir Alex Ferguson, who, along with Niall McLoughlin, bred the seven-year-old bay, and Ged Mason.

Had this column appeared last week, we would have referred to Dylan Browne McMonagle’s record-breaking greyhound Droopys Kathleen but, instead, we will mention that the Co Donegal-born jockey recorded his first win on his current trip to Australia at Newcastle last Saturday.

Riding for Ciaron Maher, Dylan landed the New Zealand Bloodstock Spring Stakes, a $250,000 Group 3 race over 1,600 metres for three-year-olds, on the Snitzel filly Snitzanova, one of four rides he had on the 10-race card. Also on the flat this week, there were wins on Friday for Pat Cosgrave at Abu Dhabi and for Luke McAteer at Dundalk.

Over jumps, Danny McMenamin partnered winners at Sedgefield on Thursday last and on Tuesday at Carlisle, where Derek Fox rode a winner having also landed one at Newcastle last Friday. Caoilin Quinn recorded a double at Southwell last Friday, Brian Hughes won the opener at Wetherby on Saturday and Liam McKenna landed the 20/1 shot Diamond Nora, a head winner of the mares’ handicap hurdle at Limerick on Tuesday.