DAVID Christie is certainly doing his bit on behalf of local point-to-point handlers, saddling one winner on the six-race card at Tattersalls on Sunday, April 16th, another on the 10-race card at Fairyhouse yesterday week and two at Castle Irvine, Necarne, last Saturday.

Derrylin-based Christie ran four horses at his local meeting, two of which pulled up while the other pair obliged in contrasting fashion.

First up, John Hegarty and Jenny O’Kane’s Winged Leader made all to land the three-runner ladies’ open by 17 and a half lengths.

The nine-year-old Winged Love gelding obliged under the reigning lady riders’ champion Susie Doyle, breaking a sequence of the bay being partnered solely by Barry O’Neill since the end of the 2018/19 season.

The double came up in the concluding six-year-old and upwards geldings’ maiden when, on his fourth start in total, and his second for Christie, the Mahler bay Nevermindestranger dead-heated under O’Neill in the handler’s own colours with the Colin Bowe-trained Bourbon N Kentucky.

From a family associated with the late Robert Donaldson, the Wilson Dennison-owned, Colin McKeever-trained Kerryhill, who had finished second to The Hero Next Door on his only previous start at Kirkistown in November, justified favouritism under Derek O’Connor in the five-year-old geldings’ maiden.

Second winner

There was a second northern-trained winner at the Fairyhouse meeting yesterday week when Deckie Lavery landed division two of the five-year-old geldings’ maiden on the British-bred Cleatus Poolaw who had finished second on his only previous start at Turtulla in November.

On record as having been sold after his first outing, the Clovis Du Berlais bay still ran in Sara O’Hare’s colours at the Meath and Tara fixture and was trained by her husband Mark. Cleatus Poolaw was due to come under the hammer as Lot 13 at the Goffs Punchestown Sale on Thursday evening.

While it was disappointing that there weren’t more northern-trained winners at both Fairyhouse and Castle Irvine, Necarne, and that the action at both tracks was dominated by Wexford handlers, one can take some solace from the fact that the Model County was beaten by Galway in the hurling last Saturday.

There were a couple of locally-bred point-to-point winners recently which, working backwards, were the Ronald Brown-bred Jose Alice (2018 by Soldier Of Fortune – Thuringe, by Turgeon) in the five-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden at Castle Irvine, Necarne, and the Mayne Kidd-bred Everyonesacritic (by Hillstar - Loughbricklandrose, by September Storm) in division two of the four-year-old geldings’ maiden at Fairyhouse.

IT’S all very well Stuart Crawford training winners such as Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s five-year-old Authorized gelding Boldog (7/1) at Hexham on Monday and Margaret McCrudden’s home-bred seven-year-old Flemensfirth mare Nowinittowinit (80/1) at Perth on Wednesday but what about the two horses he ran at Punchestown on Tuesday?

I lost all of €2 in total on the pair whose rider, Steven Crawford, was no doubt as disappointed as I. Or, perhaps, even more so, as Steven has recently taken on parental responsibilities, and the associated financial commitments, following the birth of his and partner Reah Magee’s son Bobby. Many congratulations to both.