“IT’s very important when you sell one of these point-to-point winners well that they go on and do something,” said Co Down trainer Caroline McCaldin.

“It has been big in the past for Dad and the lads when one of the Loughanmore graduates won at the Cheltenham Festival but, if Hermes Allen was to win there this year, that would be huge for me!”

McCaldin saddled the now six-year-old Poliglote gelding to win his maiden at Kirkistown in November 2021 in the colours of her father, Wilson Dennison, and it was she who then consigned him to the sales.

He was knocked down for £350,000 to Aiden Murphy and Paul Nicholls and is now owned by the high-profile quartet of Alex Ferguson, Ged Mason, John Hales and John Diver.

Hermes Allen has run three times in Britain, his first two outings being on good ground while the last was on soft. On his first start, at Stratford in October, he demolished a five-runner field in a two-mile, six-furlong maiden hurdle, justifying odds-on favouritism by 27 lengths in the hands of Bryony Frost.

Harry Cobden then took over the ride on the bay and they recorded a nine-length success in the two-mile, five-furlong seven-runner Grade 2 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle on day one of Cheltenham’s November meeting before seeing off 11 rivals in the Grade 1 Coral Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury on the final afternoon of 2022.

Shorten

That four and three-quarter length victory over an extended two and a half-miles saw Hermes Allen shorten to 5/2 favouritism for the two-mile, five-furlong Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle on the Wednesday of the Cheltenham Festival while, at time of writing, he is a 20/1 chance for the three-mile Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle on the Friday.

Purchased privately as a foal from leading French breeder Bruno Vange, Hermes Allen spent much of the first two years of his life at Loughanmore. “When he was turning two, Dad asked if I would take the horse to graze so he and Ballydangan arrived down here at Dromara and, despite their owner wanting them back, we never returned them!,” revealed Caroline.

Bill and Ben

“We called them Bill (Ballydangan) and Ben (Hermes Allen) and they were both broken here as three-year-olds. We did a bit with them, including running them in a schooling race, and then turned them out again to grow and mature.

“When they came back in, we immediately knew that Ben was the best horse we had ever had here, without a shadow of a doubt, and we were all very excited about him.

“We fancied him to be our first ever four-year-old winner when we brought him down to Rathcannon at the end of October (in 2021) but the rain had been lashing down all day and the ground was nearly in slurry.

“I told Noel (McParlan) not to give the horse a hard race and he finished third. He had no problem winning next time out at Kirkistown, making all the running, and then went to the sales.”

In November last year McCaldin was, on her own admission, “in floods of tears and a total mess” as she watched Hermes Allen win the Grade 2 version of the Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham.

She won’t have a runner at the Festival herself but is determined to be there to see her former charge run in whichever Grade 1 race is chosen for him and, should he win, one can expect the floodgates to open once again.

Looking forward

Asked which other horse once owned by her father that she was looking forward to seeing at Cheltenham, Caroline had little hesitation in nominating Banbridge who is trained by Joseph O’Brien for Dennison’s good friend, Ronnie Bartlett.

“He is just the most gorgeous-looking horse,” she said of the Doyen gelding who won last year’s Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle at the Festival and, in November, returned to Prestbury Park to lay claim to the Grade 2 Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase .

The bay was purchased as a yearling in 2017 by Ian Ferguson who has bought many horses on Dennison’s behalf. Before the current point-to-point season commenced, McCaldin was hoping to have a runner in the St James’s Place Hunters’ Chase at the Festival but has since changed her mind.

“There wasn’t much choice about it,” she commented. “I had two open horses, Faith Loving and Samurai Cracker,” she explained. The former has won four point-to-points but was firmly put in his place by The Storyteller in a ladies’ race at Quakerstown while Samurai Cracker, who won a novice chase at Down Royal in 2021 in addition to a hunters’ chase and a point-to-point maiden, finished a well-beaten fifth behind Vaucelet at Down Royal’s post-Christmas meeting.

Little opportunity

“It’s not only disappointing that there’s no point in travelling to Cheltenham with them but, even in the point-to-points at home, there seems little opportunity for horses like them these days.”

Unlike his one-time field and stable-companion Hermes Allen, Ballydangan has yet to win between the flags, having finished fifth, four and fifth in three starts, the last of which was at Kirkistown in November.

The six-year-old Saddler Maker gelding, who only made his debut at Toomebridge on the opening day of the 2022/’23 season, is another of the 16 horses McCaldin currently has in work at her Dromara yard where they run a tight ship.

“I’m practically always here, so too is Tom McMahon, who breaks all the horses on site, and Trevor Woodside. All our horses get plenty of flat work and we also do a lot of pole work with them and, for that, we have a great rider in local girl Robyn McCluskey.

“She now events at senior international three-star level having represented Ireland at Junior and Young Rider European championships.

“We are very lucky that Noel McParlan lives locally. He has ridden for me for years and I have always rated him very highly – not just on racedays, but also for the excellent feedback he gives you after sitting on a horse or schooling him.

Any job

“And then there’s my husband Alan – the place would just fall apart without him. He does any job that needs doing about the yard, makes the hay and also the silage for his own cattle.

“For 10 years, he was physio for Ulster Rugby’s senior team but found that, with all the travelling, he was missing out on doing things with our kids. He has a practice at home where he treats patients in the evenings so he is very much on the go all day.”

The McCaldins’ son James, who is rugby mad, is now studying physics at the University of Bath. According to his mother, James “doesn’t know what a horse looks like”, in contrast to his sister Anna who events.

“A bit like myself she likes the cross-country phase and the show jumping but not the dressage. At this time of the year, I have her working on her dressage.”

A very successful horse once owned by McCaldin was the four-star eventer Black Ice. Again purchased as a foal, but locally from cattle and horse breeder Judith McClelland, this Vechta gelding was campaigned here by Neil Morrison and Catherine Robinson but is now ridden for Germany by Jerome Robine.

Caroline and her sister Katrina did a lot of hunting alongside their father and both progressed to eventing but not race-riding.

“Dad was always against us riding in point-to-points,” said McCaldin whose event horses often had similar names to Wilson’s runners between the flags. She last competed in 2020 at Loughanmore on Black Ice’s Tolan R half-sister Nectarine.

Other Grade 1 winners/ Cheltenham Festival winners and placed horses sold by Wilson Dennison

Ballyadam (IRE) (Fame And Glory)

Grade 1 winner at Fairyhouse, 2020. Second in the 2021 Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle.

Ballyandy (GB) (Kayf Tara)

Won the Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Grade 1) in 2016 and finished fourth in the following year’s Sky Bet Supreme Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1).

Ballycasey (IRE) (Presenting)

Grade 1 win in the Dr P.J. Moriarty Novice Chase at Leopardstown, February 2014.

Ballycassidy (IRE) (Insan)

Multiple winner

Ballyoptic (IRE), (Old Vic)

Grade 1 win in the Doom Bar Sefton Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) at Aintree in April 2016..

Banbridge (IRE) (Doyen)

Won the Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle in 2022 and Grade 2 Arkle Challenge Trophy Trial Novices’ Chase.

Bellshill (IRE) (King’s Theatre)

Multiple Grade 1 winner over hurdles and fences.

Bindaree (IRE) (Roselier)

Grade 1 Won Challow Novice Hurdle winner and also won the Martell Grand National at Aintree in April 2002 and the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow in December 2003.

Blaklion (GB) (Kayf Tara)

Won the Grade 1 RSA Chase (Grade 1) in 2016. He also ran in the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree on four occasions, finishing fourth in 2017.

Boothill (IRE) (Presenting)

Won Grade 2 Ladbrokes Wayward Lad Novices’ Chase

Briar Hill (IRE) (Shantou)

Won the Weatherbys Champion Bumper (Grade 1) in 2013 and the Grade 1 novice hurdle at Navan.

Flying Angel (IRE) (Arcadio)

Grade 1 win in the Manifesto Novices’ Chase at Aintree in April 2017. At the Cheltenham Festival, he finished second in the Martin Pipe Handicap Hurdle in 2016

Scotsirish (IRE) (Zaffaran)

Won over cross-country at Punchestown

Shaneshill (IRE) (King’s Theatre)

Grade 1 win in the Aththeraces.com Champion INH Flat Race at the 2014 Punchestown Festival and Grade 1 placed at Cheltenham Festivals.

Tildarg (IRE) (Black Minstrel)

Grade 1 win in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase at Sandown in February 1991.

Wholestone (IRE) (Craigsteel)

finished third in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) in 2017 and third in the Sun Bets Stayers’ Hurdle (Grade 1) in 2018.

Yorkhill (IRE) (Presenting)

Grade 1 winner over hurdles and fences including at the Cheltenham Festival

This article is taken from The Irish Field Cheltenham Magazine 2023. CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR COPY