TOM MALONE has long been one of the leading purchasers of horses to emerge from the Irish point-to-point fields.

The former professional jockey, who has gone on to establish himself as a leading bloodstock agent, has sourced winners of both the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Aintree Grand National from this sphere. His appetite for Irish point-to-pointers remains as strong as ever, with Malone signing for 23 of them at public auction last season alone.

One of Malone’s less expensive purchases from last season has highlighted a potentially rewarding route for a particular band of horses leaving the Irish pointing fields.

Go Down Rockin had been beaten a combined 37 lengths on his first two starts at Kirkistown and Tinahely before producing an improved effort at Dungarvan in January.

The Walk In The Park gelding finished a length second on what proved to be his third and final appearance for Colin Bowe, before Malone bought him for €64,000 at the Goffs February Sale.

Crucially, those three defeats meant that Go Down Rockin retained his maiden status, something which Malone has now used to his advantage by sending him to contest one of the relatively new young-horse maidens in British point-to-pointing.

Races restricted

Last season, the British authorities introduced a series of 15 maiden races restricted to four- and five-year-olds in which the winners are eligible for a further bonus if they subsequently win under rules in Britain within the following two years.

British-bred horses can qualify for a £25,000 bonus (€29,600), while horses bred elsewhere, including in Ireland, are eligible for £15,000 (€17,700).

The new British point-to-point season began at Lower Machen last Sunday, where the Welsh fixture staged the first race in this season’s series.

Irish pointing graduates dominated the finish, with Malone’s new recruit Go Down Rockin narrowly defeating Monty Leburne, who had previously run three times for Matty Flynn O’Connor and most recently finished third at Necarne in May.

Go Down Rockin can now be offered to prospective purchasers with the added incentive of a potential £15,000 bonus should he go on to win a qualifying race under rules in Britain during the next two years.

Clever placing

It was a clever piece of placing by Malone and could provide a blueprint for other connections with horses who retain their maiden status.

The British point-to-point scene has long been populated by Irish exports. Last season, 308 races between the flags in Britain were won by horses that had previously contested an Irish point-to-point, providing an important outlet for horses that came at varying levels of the market.

With the British authorities now seeking to strengthen their own programme of younger-horse maidens and recreate an element of the successful Irish model, these races would appear to offer an additional opportunity for shrewd Irish connections working alongside a British counterpart.

Sunday’s runner-up illustrated the potential rewards, particularly at one end of the market.

Monty Leburne was sold out of Ireland for just £1,500, yet came within a narrow margin of collecting a new £10,000 bonus for British-bred winners on what was his first start for his new connections.

Owing to his GB-suffix, victory would also have left him eligible for a further £25,000 if he subsequently won a qualifying race under rules in Britain within the next two years.

For horses who may not command the largest prices at public auction, that represents a new opportunity to maximise the possible returns from them.

THE new hunter chase season gets underway at Fairyhouse on Tuesday, ahead of the traditional Christmas contests at Down Royal and Limerick.

Since its relatively recent introduction in 2020, this division-opening winners’ of two race has regularly provided an early indication of the younger horses capable of developing into leading performers within the hunter chase sphere.

Vaucelet won the 2021 edition before going on to land both the Joseph O’Reilly Hunter Chase and the Stratford Champion Hunter Chase later that season.

More recently, Con’s Roc ran out an emphatic 17-length winner for Terence O’Brien 12 months ago. He subsequently performed creditably in the Festival Hunters’ Chase at Cheltenham, finishing sixth as the third Irish-trained horse home.

Top level performers

This year’s renewal has the potential to uncover another group of younger horses capable of competing at the top level of the hunter chase division during the months ahead.

Although written prior to the closing of entries on Thursday, several handlers had already highlighted the Fairyhouse contest as a likely early-season target following recent victories in open lightweight company.

They include the reigning champion point-to-point horse Hearts And Spades, who began his new campaign with a successful return to action at Damma House last Sunday.

The seven-year-old won eight times between the flags last season, but remains relatively unexposed in hunter chases. That leaves Ian McCarthy’s stable star with the potential to transfer his form from the pointing fields to the track.

My Life Be Like is one year his junior and already has useful hunter chase form to his name.

As a five-year-old last Christmas, he was beaten just two and a half lengths in the St Stephen’s Day hunter chase at Down Royal. His season then came to a premature end following a disappointing effort at Clonmel in January.

David Christie’s charge put that behind him on his return to action at Tinahely last month, recording a wide-margin victory that suggested his career was very much back on track.

Younger horses

Hearts And Spades and My Life Be Like are just two of the younger horses for whom Tuesday’s race has been mentioned as a possible target.

With others likely to join them, the contest should provide an informative opening to the new hunter chase campaign.

It will offer an early opportunity to assess whether the leading younger open horses can take the next step, while also providing a possible guide towards the stronger hunter chases later in the season.

Point-to-point ratings

Law takes advantage for his first success

PREVIOUS form came to the fore among last weekend’s four-year-old maiden races with Limit Of The Law (88+) the sole newcomer to triumph. He was sitting in second when the leading Wild Lands (89x) came down at the last.

Wild Land’s stablemate Annabelle Park (83+) fared better in the four-year-old mares’ maiden at Lisronagh. She had the best form in the book from her Monksgrange debut, and that stood to her as she narrowly denied a newcomer in a 12-runner maiden where the front pair finished 20 lengths clear of the remainder.

League Of Legends (88+) was turned out just seven days after finishing third in a bunched finish at Peppards Castle. On his fourth career start, the French-bred defeated a newcomer by half a length, mirroring the opener.

There was an incredibly tight finish in Damma House as less than a length separated the first four finishers, with a final-fence faller also in the mix prior to their departure. Harper Brown (87+) was still only in fifth jumping the last, but he finished powerfully to prevail narrowly.