JUST as the latest crop of equine talent was taking their first steps into competitive action, with the first four-year-old maiden races of 2025, those horses that had already come through the point-to-point academy certainly advertised its merits in a perfect symmetry to last weekend’s action.

Of the 14 races at the Dublin Racing Festival which featured a former point-to-pointer, six were won by a pointing export, with a further five races featuring at least one ex-pointer in the placings, including the Irish Gold Cup, where both Grangeclare West and Fact To File made the frame.

Final Demand was first to strike at the Foxrock venue, with his impressive 12-length victory in the Grade 1 Nathaniel Lacy Solicitors Novice Hurdle.

Like the aforementioned Grangeclare West, Final Demand was bought at the store sales by Joey Logan, who had signed for the Walk In The Park gelding in partnership with Matthew Flynn O’Connor at the 2022 Derby sale.

The pair had to part with €230,000 to secure the son of the Grade 1-placed race mare Zuzka, which made him one of the pricier store purchases to appear between the flags when he had made his competitive debut for Flynn O’Connor, winning at Lingstown just under a year ago.

He now looks set to join the ever-growing list of racing stars, who have won their maidens at that Wexford venue, including Shiskin, Gerri Colombe, Bravemansgame, Stay Away Fay, and the Grand National hero, One For Arthur.

It was within the novice chase division that the second Grade 1 victory of the weekend at Leopardstown was secured, with Ballyburn returning to winning ways in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase.

The big leagues

A four-year-old maiden winner at Loughanmore in 2022 when produced by the Colin McKeever – Wilson Dennison partnership, the five-length victory was the fourth top-level race to be won by the son of Flemensfirth since he joined Willie Mullins.

As had been the case with Final Demand’s victory 24 hours earlier, it was also another former pointer that chased him home, with the already dual Grade 1-winner Croke Park having to settle for the runner-up honours on this occasion.

In addition to those Grade 1 victories, there were a further four valuable prizes claimed by pointing graduates on the marquee weekend.

An Peann Dearg, who had fallen at the last in Ballyarthur when likely to collect for Harry Kelly, won the Ryanair Handicap Chase, the Grade 3 O’Driscolls Leopardstown Handicap Chase went to Backtonormal, a Ballycrystal runner-up when under the care of Mags Mullins, whilst the €150,000 Timeless Sash Windows Handicap Hurdle was won by McLaurey, a previous four-year-old maiden winner at Lisronagh for Jonathan Fogarty.

That was before it was left to Bambino Fever to sign off on the weekend in style, as she remained unbeaten in the Dublin Racing Festival finale, the Grade 2 Coolmore NH Sires EBF Bumper.

This was a second victory under rules for the daughter of Jukebox Jury, who had started her career winning a four-year-old mares’ maiden at Stowlin for Nicky Stokes by 40 lengths.

The top-level successes were not confined to Leopardstown last weekend, with Handstands becoming the third former Irish point-to-point graduate to win the Scilly Isles Novice Chase at Sandown in the last five years.

The Getaway gelding had made a winning start to his career in a four-year-old maiden at Moira in October 2023 for Patrick Turley, and last Saturday’s hard-fought Grade 1 success, which followed consecutive Grade 2 victories, saw him fend off fellow pointing graduate Jango Baie by a short head.

DEREK O’Connor took his tally of winners at Bellharbour to 40 with a popular four-timer last Sunday.

The 11-time national champion may have scaled back his riding appearances between the flags from the dizzy heights of his 354 rides during the 2008/09 campaign, as he now combines race-riding with his burgeoning training operation, but the record-breaker is certainly making those appearances in the saddle count, as last Sunday again highlighted.

By the close of last weekend’s action, O’Connor had taken just 27 rides in the sphere thus far this season, the fewest of the 14 riders with six or more winners, but a total of 11 winners leaves him on a strike rate of 41% for the campaign, 13 percentage points clear of any other rider in that cohort.

Those Bellharbour victories came hot on the heels of also winning the Grade 2 bumper on the opening day of the Dublin Racing Festival card for the second year running, this time courtesy of Noel Meade’s Colcannon.

Handling success

But, it was also back-to-back victories at the weekend in his newer role as a handler in the four-year-old maiden at the Clare venue, one of the first races in the division run this year.

Bud Fox followed in the footsteps of the now dual hurdle-winning mare That’s Nice in the Bellharbour opener, and her victory last year kickstarted a notable run of success for O’Connor-trained youngsters in the early weeks of the 2024 campaign.

Of the 24 four-year-old maiden races run across the first six weekends of races in that division last year, his horses won a quarter of them.

J.P. McManus-owned horses accounted for five of those wins last spring, in a developmental role for O’Connor within the McManus operation, which appears to be working well on the basis of their subsequent efforts, with all four of O’Connor point winners for him that have subsequently visited the track – That’s Nice, Goraibhmaithagat, Shuffle The Deck and Pure Steel - having now won their maiden hurdles for their new trainers.

The coming weeks could again feature the green and gold quite heavily, with O’Connor having registered hunter certificates for 24 J.P. McManus-owned four-year-olds, 12 of whom are homebreds for the Limerick family.

Point-to-point ratings

MUCH of the focus entering last weekend’s action unsurprisingly was focused on the newest batch of four-year-olds. However, their year-older rivals were not to be outshone, with the five-year-old geldings’ maidens throwing up a number of notable winners across the weekend.

Tales Of Bravery (93+) justified strong market support as he overcame what could have been a costly third-last fence error at Ballinaboola, particularly given the relatively short distance between that obstacle to the penultimate fence. He finished off his debut very strongly to win going away at the line.

Jury’s In (90+) produced a foot-perfect round of jumping in what was a significantly slower second division, as he completed a weekend double in the age group for Robert Tector, with stablemate An Buachaill Rua (89+) proving to be a class above his rivals in Dungarvan.

At Bellharbour, Vanderflier (93+) looks like a smart staying prospect, after he outstayed the very eye-catching newcomer Talk To The Boss, a horse that had shown plenty of gears to stretch the field out from the third-last fence.

Within the four-year-old division, Bud Fox (91+) showed that he has plenty of gears to quicken off a modest gallop, whilst in Ballinaboola the more speed favouring two and a half mile trip suited Lion Rose Sivola (91+) well. He swept around rivals on the home bend and was the last to come under pressure, overcoming a mistake at the final fence in the process.