THERE was so much happening at Tattersalls Ireland this past week that it was difficult to keep track of any local transactions but we did enjoy Robert Hall’s interview with John Yarr following the latter’s sale of his Meadowlands Stud-consigned Jeu St Eloi filly foal (Lot 363) to Ed Bailey Bloodstock (acting for OLBG) for €85,000.
Out of the non-winning Montjeu mare Je T’Adore, the bay is a half-sister to five winners headed by the 2016 Born To The Sea gelding A Wave Of The Sea whose 10 wins include a Grade 1 hurdle and a Grade 2 chase.
He was followed by the 2021 Harzand gelding Hello Neighbour whose four wins include a Grade 1 hurdle (and won Yarr the ITBA (Northern Region) National Hunt Horse of the Year award for 2024) and the 2019 Starspangledbanner mare Duvet Day whose four wins in the USA include a Grade 3 stakes race.
John eloquently described the filly, spoke of how he purchased her dam (on spec at Newmarket as a potential flat mare), thanked Ed Bailey for buying her and wished the new owners all the best with their new purchase.
He also thanked Joe and Colin Kennedy of Meadowlands Stud for looking after Je T’Adore so well and Maura Savage who led the filly up at Tatts.
THERE were no local connections to any of the point-to-point winners in Ireland or Britain last weekend but graduates of northern yards enjoyed success on the racecourse headed by three winners formerly in the care of Gerald Quinn.
Last Thursday week, the now Gordon Elliott-trained Kovanis and the now Henry de Bromhead-trained Scope To Improve landed the opening maiden hurdles at Clonmel.
On their only starts for Quinn, the Tunis gelding Kovanis won a four-year-old maiden at Portrush in October 2024 while the Telescope gelding Scope To Improve landed a similar race at Necarne in May that year.
At Bangor on Wednesday, a division of the extended two-mile novices’ hurdle was won by the Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies-trained Shabalko d’Herm, a Balko gelding who Quinn saddled to claim a four-year-old maiden on his debut at Toomebridge in October 2024.
DOWNPATRICK’s Danny McMenamin and Caoilin Quinn share the honours on the jockey front this week as they rode four winners apiece in the period under review.
Both had doubles during that time, McMenamin recording his at Sedgefield on Thursday week last, while Quinn was on the mark twice at Sandown’s poorly-supported card on Sunday.
Also over jumps there were wins at Newbury last Thursday week and at Hereford on Tuesday for Daire McConville, at Hexham last Friday and at Ayr on Wednesday for Derek Fox and at Carlisle on Monday for Brian Hughes.
On the flat, Luke McAteer recorded a treble at Dundalk last Friday, a day after Kyle McHugh visited the winner’s enclosure at Chelmsford and Oisin Orr did so at Newcastle. In Australia, Martin Harley extended his winning run to seven with two more victories from two rides for Chris and Corey Munce, the first at Eagle Farm on Saturday and the second at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday.
On the ownership front, Willie Mullins sent out the Paul Townend-ridden seven-year-old Policy Maker bay Spindleberry to justify odds of 2/5 in the Listed mares’ chase at Clonmel last Thursday week for Bronagh and Fearghal Eastwood.
WE’VE listed him in this column as a winner a few times lately, but Thistle Ask deserves a starring role following his seven-length victory in the Grade 2 BetMGM Haldon Gold Cup at Exeter last Friday afternoon.
Trained by Dan Skelton, whose brother Harry was in the saddle for this extended handicap chase, the Ask gelding was bringing up a four-timer over fences, the first leg of which came at Musselburgh in February when the eight-year-old was in the care of James Ewart.
Thistle Ask started his career with Stuart Crawford for whom he had just the one point-to-point start, pulling up in a four-year-old maiden at Loughbrickland in November 2021 in the colours of his breeder, Robert Duncan.
In three runs on the track out of Crawford’s Larne yard, Thistle Ask fared best on his final outing when second in a maiden hurdle at Naas in February 2022.
The Haldon Cup winner is the first of five recorded foals out of the Bryson and Ion McClelland-bred Exit To Nowhere mare Thistle Lane who, trained by Danny Fitzsimmons, was placed three times between the flags in the spring of 2015.
At the same Exeter meeting, the opening extended two-mile novices’ hurdle was won by the four-year-old Walk In The Park gelding Lisbane Park (see page 106 for further details), while the concluding handicap hurdle was won by the Margaret McGauran-bred nine-year-old gelding Stratton Oakmont (Ask - Foxwood Girl, by Anshan).
Wincanton winners
At Wincanton the following afternoon, the bumper was won by the Brenda Cunningham-bred four-year-old gelding No Way Jay (Harzand - Some Sister, by Dr Massini).
The veterans’ handicap chase at Carlisle on Monday went the way of the Kathleen McKeever-bred 10-year-old gelding Whistleinthedark (Fame And Glory - Last Of Many, by Lahib).
Wednesday’s meeting at Ayr saw wins for the Gareth Metcalfe-bred eight-year-old gelding De Legislator (Shirocco - Reynard’s Glen, by Old Vic); for the Barbara Hanna-bred six-year-old gelding Sixmilebridge (Affinisea - Luck Or Logic, by Haatef), the ITBA (Northern Region) novice hurdler of the year for 2024; and the Graham Morrow-bred seven-year-old gelding Stop Loss (Kalanisi - Simply Deep, by Simply Great).
Also winning at Ayr, was the Ian Duncan-trained six-year-old mare Tread Softly Now (Champs Elysees - Watch Closely Now, by Winged Love), who Ian owns and bred in partnership with Stephen Sinclair. The same connections were on the mark also at Carlisle on Monday with the seven-year-old mare Celestial Fashion (Telescope - French Fashion, by Jamesmead), who carries a GB suffix.
Also on Wednesday, but at Bangor, the extended two and a half-mile handicap chase was won by the Hugh Hazzard-bred nine-year-old gelding Fine Casting (Shantou - Fine Fortune, by Bob Back).