IT’s great to see young local riders being given a chance to prove themselves on the point-to-point circuit and, as the Northern Region season concluded last Saturday at Broughshane, Cormac Abernethy repaid the support he has received from Wilson Dennison and Colin McKeever by recording a quickfire double in the famous black and white quartered colours.

First up, the trio landed the McBurney Transport five-year-old geldings’ maiden with Richhill who was winning on his third start. The Presenting gelding, who was a €35,000 purchase by Ian Ferguson at Goffs in January 2018, is out of the unraced Generous mare Our Pride who is dam of the six-time winner Generous Day (by Daylami).

Richhill, who comes from the family of Our Ben and Horatio Hornblower, is due to come up at Goffs UK’s sale of horses in training and point-to-pointers at Doncaster next week as Lot 477.

Also heading over to the same sale, where he has been catalogued as Lot 500, is Ballybentragh who, on his debut on Saturday, landed the Raymart adjacent maiden by one and a half lengths. Another five-year-old, this gelded son of Fame And Glory is out of the unraced Bob Back mare Shuil Dorcha and is thus a half-brother to the top class pair Bright New Dawn (by Presenting) and Lyrical Theatre (by King’s Theatre).

This fellow too was purchased for Dennison by Ian Ferguson but for €75,000 at Tattersalls Ireland’s 2017 November National Hunt Sale.

The Crawford brothers, Stuart and Ben, had to settle for second in that adjacent with Tom Topping’s Josies Dylan but they prevented Dennison from winning his sponsorship money back in the opening four-year-old maiden where Ben wore his own colours to victory on Kinbara.

This newcomer by Mahler, who is heading to Doncaster as Lot 468, is out of the unraced Lomitas mare Dali’s Theatre, a half-sister to the multiple winners Out Sam (by Multiplex) and Honest John (by Alzao). Kinbara scored by half a length from the Dennison/McKeever runner Ballystone who, on his debut, was partnered by Noel McParlan. And yes, this well-bred Shirocco gelding Ballystone has also been entered in next week’s sale and will come up as part of the Loughanmore draft as Lot 473.

Derrylin trainer David Christie rounded off his regional campaign with a win in the Doherty Woodshavings open when Ray Nicholas’s Some Man, who had slipped up on the flat at Largy a week earlier, justified odds-on favouritism by two and a half lengths under Rob James.