JESSICA Harrington had a runner on the snow in St Moritz last weekend. The horse, Dark Viper, didn’t manage to place in the Grosser Preis von St Moritz, but it was an enjoyable adventure for owner Dan Kiely and family.

Charles O’Neill, chief executive with Irish Thoroughbred Marketing, bumped into the Irish group while passing through. He said: “They had a great experience. It’s a very well-run meeting. It takes place over three consecutive weekends in February and the Grosser Preis is the biggest race of the ‘White Turf’ season. There’s a lot of high net worth people in St Moritz at this time of year and you never know who you might meet there.”

ITM is sponsoring a race at Market Rasen next week - not quite St Moritz - and then it’s on to Cheltenham. Charles reported: “We’re doing a lot in the Middle East at the moment. Andrew Kelly is in Meydan this Saturday and has been in Qatar and Bahrain too. Racing is getting bigger in Malaysia - Irish breeze-up horses have done well out there and they are coming back for more, so we are sponsoring a race out there. We’re also expecting some positive developments in Italy soon.”