THE honours were shared evenly between nine different drivers at Portmarnock last Sunday which included some impressive performances held before a sparse attendance. It was a day when forcing tactics paid off and stable companions, in a sense, Erin Flanagan and John Richardson both used the get-out-and-get-on tactic to good effect. Erin drove the thickset Tamalou Perrine, while John was on the typical pacer Kick Up The Dust.

Not many will know that Croke Park (then known as Jones’ Road) once hosted trotting. On Sunday the All Ireland really affected the local crowd attendance. The few die-hards that did venture out to Kinsealy tended to stay in the comfortable bar. The bookies were forlorn figures as the roars (for Dublin) and the gasps when Kerry were on the advance trickled out to the betting ring. Luckily Sam Maguire only impacts once a year and the next two months will see some of the best action of the year.

There’s nothing so fickle as horses and both Silvano Bello and Tamalou Perrine ran flat at Manch the previous weekend. Fast forward seven days and the two Trotteurs Français defied their age to post victories. Silvano Bello is 13 and the lumbering great Tamalou Perrine, regularly likened to a steeplechaser, is 12.

Silvano Bello loves ‘the top’ and this correspondent has lost count of how many times he has stood at the bridge of Donal Murphy’s sulky following yet another win. “He went beautifully,” was the comment from the Baltimore reinsman after Silvano Bello took the E to D trot. The win brings his lifetime earnings to over €113,000 and around €30,000 of this total was earned in Ireland.

Proud father Mark Flanagan and trusted Meadowbranch team member Sydney McKnight were like basketball coaches as they shouted encouragement at Erin Flanagan in the apprentice race. “Be aggressive Erin!” could clearly be heard. The young transport manager took her mentors literally and fired old Tamalou to a 2.03 mile. He is a dour stayer and even though cousin Charlie Flanagan came on the scene with the classy mare Star De Fruitier, Tamalou Perrine kept on to the line in the mile-and-a-quarter contest. The race was a good advertisement for the sport.

Early on the card Patrick Kane junior kept up his good strike rate with the Cork-owned Empereur Souverain. Noel Ryan ran second aboard Brendan Morgan’s Éclair Du Limon. Race two went the way of Newtown Terror and Stephen Wallace. The son of Western Terror is currently for sale and looks like an improving type.

Vintage

As mentioned above, John Richardson led out and made all to win with Kick Up The Dust. The drive was vintage Richardson. The race was won and lost on the first turn as JR outgunned the favourite A Kind Of Magic (Alan Wallace senior for Rory Bridgette).

Kick Up The Dust has been beaten in the past when he looked to have the race at his mercy and the perennial champion helped the US import to make up his mind in a lifetime best of 1.59.1. Sunnyside Kildare with new owner Ray Sheridan ran into third.

Rarely do you see a Billy Roche winner that drifted in the betting, but this was the case with Bingo Speed. The elegant Belkalinja and Donal Murphy went off favourite but disappointed in this clockwise race. Aram and Buster Gilligan put in a game effort for second.

Ricky Hanson of Coleraine is well known for his patience. Many a trainer would have given up on Amy Camden (now seven) who took a while to shed her maiden status. The Arts Conquest mare is paying Ricky back in spades at the moment and made her form sequence read: 121412 from her last six runs. “She’s like a fine wine, getting better with age,” the trainer/driver told The Irish Field.

Amy Camden will make a nice broodmare in time as she has a nice frame. The jolly in this, Kiki Girl led everywhere but the line for Billy Roche.

Jonny Cowden can do no wrong at the moment and he took the top grade pace with his home bred gelding Sarahs Gift. The winner could have been backed as he stayed alongside the useful Benny Camden for quite a while on his previous run recently in Manch.

Walter Stewart will be pleased with Porterstown Courage who was second of a 30-yard trail, a nice tightener for the upcoming All Ireland Series Final. A time of 1.58.4 is not hanging about.

The meeting closed with a win for the favourite Donald and the ‘Cooley Magician’ Martin Loughran. It was nice to see Martin’s father Phillip in the winner’s circle photo. Donal Murphy conjured a good run out of Banderillero Piya for second money.

Full results can be viewed at www.irishharnessracing.com

HARNESS racing lost another of the fast diminishing links to the revival of the sport in 1969 with the passing of Jim Murdock of Belfast who died on Saturday August 31st at the age of 87. Jim was frequently mentioned in this column and was a reliable source on the history of trotting.

Jim could trace the sport to the days of Gibson Park in Belfast, which is now Malone Rugby Club. Volunteer, Thunders Express, Billy Adios and Don Duan were just some of the champions to pass through the yard in Belfast’s ‘Market’ district. Although he never married, he was a father figure to a large family circle. Jim and his late brother Joe were a formidable team in the fruit and vegetable game and in their jousts with the bookies at the weekends.

‘Uncle Jim ‘ as he was respectfully known also served as a steward and was on various committees. Sympathies go to the family and a minute’s silence was observed at Portmarnock on Sunday.