THE victory of Tendoo at Turtulla just under a fortnight ago saw Jonathan Fogarty move alongside fellow Wexford handlers Cormac Doyle, Denis Murphy, Mick Goff and Robert Tector as the quintet of handlers who have each saddled three winners within the four-year-old maiden category this season.

Fogarty’s Gaynestown Stud operation has come to play a leading role within this particular division in a relatively short space of time.

After all, it must be remembered that he only saddled his first four-year-old winner within this sphere when Down Memory Lane made a winning debut at Umma House in October 2022.

The pair have had contrasting fortunes in the subsequent three years.

Down Memory Lane has only managed to win three times since, with a bumper, maiden hurdle, and beginners’ chase successes all featuring on his CV. Whilst he is now rated 144 over fences, and certainly cannot be written off at the age of seven, he has not yet quite delivered in the manner that many would have expected of him following the explosive start to his career.

Contrast that with his former handler, whose star within this sphere has continued to rise. Tendoo’s victory in Turtulla was the 25th win in the age group for the stable since Down Memory Lane.

Remarkable strike rate

What is all the more remarkable is the strike rate of the stable’s runners in this age category. In these short few years, Fogarty has run a total of 58 individual horses in four-year-old maiden races.

Even discounting those who may go on to win a maiden as five-year-olds, managing to get 26 of them to win a four-year-old maiden is a pretty significant feat, particularly when you consider the calibre of opposition in that division at present.

Arguably, this is as close as anyone has managed to come, over a multi-year period, to emulating Gordon Elliott’s level of success in the division a decade ago.

Between 2013 and 2015, the Meath trainer dominated spring four-year-old maiden contests in particular, with the strength of the Gigginstown House Stud-owned youngsters in his care, making him a near-unbeatable force at the time.

In these three years, Elliott saddled 21 four-year-old maiden winners from a total of 52 individual horses, a run that was all the more notable for featuring several subsequent Grade 1 winners, including Petit Mouchoir, Very Wood and Prince Of Scars, in addition to other graded winners like Alpha Des Obeaux, Dounikos, and Wounded Warrior.

Fogarty will no doubt be hoping that his rapidly expanding list of four-year-old maiden winners can go on to achieve a similar level of subsequent track success.

THE renewed popularity of cross-country races within the sphere was once again evident last Sunday, with the first such race of the season between the flags being held at Lingstown.

The Neville Hotels-backed race attracted a very healthy entry of 20 horses, with 11 of them facing the starter last weekend.

That, despite an unfortunate clash with the Risk Of Thunder Chase, the first cross-country race of the season in Punchestown, where five of the 15 runners had a hunter certificate.

Encouragingly, seven of the last eight races held over the banks at the Wexford venue have produced double-figure fields, a run which stretches back to March 2022.

That was not always the case, with a fallow period between 2014 and 2018 yielding much smaller fields.

Deserve credit

The Killinick committee deserve particular credit for keeping the torch for cross-country races burning throughout a period when, for much of it, Lingstown was the only point-to-point course to feature a cross-country race. That was after other such races at Athlacca and Tattersalls had disappeared.

Encouragingly, with the addition of a banks race at Knockanard since 2023, the division has a much healthier look now.

Speaking of that aforementioned Risk Of Thunder Chase in Punchestown, it was notable that the finish was fought out by two horses that had won open lightweight races between the flags in the preceding weeks.

Martin Brassil’s winner Desertmore House had come out on top in a tight three-way finish against The Bosses Oscar and Milan Forth at Damma House earlier this month, and last Sunday, he defeated The Goffer by four lengths, a horse who had claimed the notable scalp of Solitary Man in Umma House last month.

Point-to-point Ratings

Sight To Sea stars

A BUMPER weekend of eight four-year-old maiden races, included the impressive debut success of A Sight To Sea (93+) at Lingstown.

The nine runners in this second division raced at a crawling pace early on, taking nine seconds longer than the first division to get to the first fence alone.

Having raced a shade keenly at this slow pace, A Sight To Sea made his way to the front by the fifth fence and, although not immediately injecting a significant pace increase at this point, he steadily rose the tempo on the final circuit to win easily by six lengths.

In that opening division, Blue To You (90+) was one of four horses that raced neck-and-neck early in the home straight, and he showed a good attitude to come out on top in what developed into a tight three-way finish on the run-in.

The mares’ equivalent at the start of the card was strongly run, and it produced an impressive winner in Elderflower Tonic (84+).

She was responsible for forcing much of that pace and, despite being pestered for much of the final mile by the eventual runner-up, to ensure there was no chance for a breather, she was able to sustain her gallop to power 10 lengths clear in the home straight.

Smart performance

This was a very smart performance in a race that has been won in recent years by both Air Of Entitlement and Only By Night.

Few contests had the complexion of the race change as significantly as the Moig South opener. Run at a strong gallop in testing ground conditions, A Real Banter looked to have victory wrapped up coming away from the penultimate fence, when holding the clear advantage.

A slight error at the last saw his stride shorten significantly on the run-in, and he was collared late on by Lord Du Gouet (88+). He did well to win following several jumping errors, including a significant one at the second last.

The final fence was also influential at Kirkistown 24 hours earlier. Although in this case, a much-improved Locker Boum (92+) had the slight edge over Diamant Dore when that rival crashed out at the last. Notably, the pair had quickened well clear of their rivals by that stage, and look sharp types.

At Boulta, the 13-runner four-year-old geldings’ maiden, which should produce several subsequent winners, saw Old Coast Road (92+) come from off the pace and go clear on the run-in to win snugly. He showed plenty of speed here to suggest he will be comfortable dropping back in trip.

Maxios Des Champs (82+) also looks capable of coming back in trip after her debut victory in the mares’ equivalent.