THOSE associated with winning point-to-pointers should smile more – just like the beaming John and Elizabeth Gilmour and daughter Claire Crawford following the success of the Stuart Crawford-trained newcomer Sawdust at Lingstown on Sunday.

Ridden by Derek O’Connor, the Leading Light chesnut landed the five-year-old geldings’ maiden by five lengths as the marginal 3/1 favourite. His next public appearance is set to be at today’s Goffs UK Coral Gold Cup Sale at Newbury where he has been catalogued as Lot 20.

Sawdust is out of the unraced Zoeys Dream, a Flemensfirth half-sister to Our Vinnie out of an Old Vic own-sister to Comply Or Die. While one hopes that he goes on to better the achievements of that pair on the track, Sawdust will have many options open to him when he retires from racing.

Like most other ex-racehorses he can go eventing, show jumping, endurance racing and hunting. Like most other ex-racehorses he can also go showing – there are ex-racehorse classes, hunter classes, riding horse classes and working hunter classes open to all. However, he will have an edge on the vast majority of his thoroughbred rivals as he can go in coloured horse classes as the large splodge of “naturally occurring white” on his offside, and the smaller one on his nearside, “are above the level of the stifle and elbow”.

Earlier in the day, division two of the four-year-old mares’ maiden was won by the Patrick Turley-trained My Forever Annie who, too, was making her debut. The Champs Elysees bay, who is due to come up as Lot 9 after racing at Newbury this afternoon, was ridden by her owner, Deckie Lavery, who then left Lingstown to head to Punchestown where he won the bumper on the Gavin Cromwell-trained The Passing Wife.

Scored

Also between the flags on Sunday, the David Christie-trained Ramillies followed up on his open victory seven days earlier but this time in the ladies’ race at Moig South where he was ridden by Susie Doyle. The preceding five-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden went to the Tom Keating-trained newcomer Millie B who scored by nine and a half lengths under Dara McGill.

The seven-race card at Boulta on Saturday was bookended by horses bred in Northern Ireland. The opening four-year-old mares’ maiden was won by the Mount Nelson debutant Mountain Molly who was bred by Gareth Metcalfe out of the Old Vic mare Reynard’s Glen, a half-sister to Sir OJ (by Be My Native) while the Stephen Magee-bred Don’t Matter Now, an eight-year-old Ask gelding, scored for the second time from two runs this season when landing the winners of one.

New campaign

Again, there was just the one meeting in Britain last weekend, the Hursley Hambledon fixture on Sunday at Larkhill where there were three Irish-bred winners on the six-race card.

The concluding nine-runner maiden was won by the 5/2 chance St Patricks Bridge who beat the 2/1 favourite, Imaginaire, by 10 lengths. The six-year-old Hillstar gelding was placed twice over hurdles and once in a bumper in eight starts for Fergal O’Brien who still has a share in the bay. However, he is now in the care of Myles Osborne and was ridden on Sunday by Co Meath native Martin McIntyre – his first win of the new campaign.

St Patricks Bridged was bred by Raymond McArdle out of the unraced Vinnie Roe mare Glazed Storm who has bred a hurdle winner in Ballymagroarty Boy (by Milan) and comes from the family of Cobblers Dream, Double Wrapped and Prominent King. Kevin Ross Bloodstock gave €8,500 for Glazed Storm’s April-foaled colt of this year who was consigned to the recent November National Hunt Sale at Tattersalls Ireland by Hillcrest Stables.

ORÁN McGill partnered two winners in two days at the end of last week, teaming up with Draperstown trainer Noel Kelly to land the two-mile handicap hurdle at Thurles on Thursday with the Cill Iseal Syndicate’s Herculaneum.

That was McGill’s only ride of the day but he had two on the Friday at Fairyhouse, scoring on one and finishing last on the other. His winner of the John Thomas McNamara Series (Q.R.) Handicap Hurdle was the Karl Thornton-trained Danny The Fence who was winning for the first time on his eighth start. The Walk In The Park six-year-old hadn’t run since early April.

Fourth success

Later that day, at Dundalk, Billy Lee landed the six-furlong handicap in the colours of Aussie Rules player Conor McKenna whose father Pat trains and led up the winner, No Speed Limit. This was a fourth success at the Co Louth track for the eight-year-old Elusive City gelding.

Stuart Crawford has his horses in good order and the Larne trainer was on the mark on Saturday at Haydock where the Masked Marvel gelding Park Annonciade won for the second time in three weeks when landing the two-mile, three-furlong Best Odds on the Betfair Exchange Handicap Hurdle. While Daryl Jacob was on board the bay last time out at Ayr, and when he won at Perth in August, Ben Bromley partnered Park Annonciade on this occasion in the colours of Simon Munir and Isaac Souede.

LUCK just wasn’t on Dylan Browne McMonagle’s side when he had his first racecourse starts in Australia over the past week.

Riding for his retaining yard of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, the 2021 champion apprentice finished second in his sole start at Kilmore on Sunday, on his two rides at Ararat on Monday and, amazingly, on his one and only mount at Lakeside on Wednesday.

Fellow Co Donegal-born jockey Martin Harley, who is well established in Australia, failed to collect on any of his four rides at Doomben on Saturday. However, he did land a 1,200m maiden on Wednesday at Ipswich where the heavy ground conditions resulted in eight of the 14 declared runners being withdrawn.

Banks course

Also on the level, but closer to home, Oisin Orr partnered a winner at Wolverhampton on Thursday last, the prize-fund of £4,000 for the six-furlong handicap being some way shy of the £500,000 on offer when he rode his previous winner in Bahrain.

Over jumps, there were wins for Danny McMenamin at Catterick on Friday, for Sam Ewing at Punchestown on Saturday, for Simon Torrens over the banks course at the same Co Kildare track on Sunday, for Caoilin Quinn on the same afternoon at Exeter and for Brian Hughes at Sedgefield on Tuesday.

HOPEFULLY, all those who intend participating in today’s ‘Saintfield’ Christmas Charity Ride are aware that it is taking place in Downpatrick and that it will start and end at the racecourse. See page 999 in the Irish Horse World section of this paper for further information.

A wine challenge has been added to the schedule of the Racehorse to Riding Horse Show taking place tomorrow week, Sunday, December 10th, at Lessans Livery outside Saintfield.

There are classes for raced and unraced horses, for veteran horses (both ridden and in-hand) and championships. There is also a cob class and a dog show. For further information email racehorsetoridinghorseire@gmail.com.