Portmarnock Saturday

SOMEHOW or other the hardy souls who run Irish harness racing are managing to keep the season going despite all the Covid-19 stipulations. Ironically the fact that the sport does not draw huge attendances is making ‘down-sizing’ more manageable.

IHRA officials were much in evidence at Portmarnock for day one of a two-day meeting.

Attendees were strictly owners and trainers only, and had to be pre-booked in advance.

Never before was the usefulness of a strong governing body so apparent and Messrs. Flanagan, O’Sullivan, Leavis and Sheehy and others too numerous to mention deserve great credit.

The meeting was dubbed the ‘autumn festival’ by commentator James Griffin. There were two very strong cards, the action on the track was hot – although the viewing area felt eerily quiet.

In normal times, the knowledgeable crowd at this venue give a rousing cheer to all winners on a big day.

The two-day fixture was the culmination of some pacing competitions and the continuation of a trotting series.

Day two saw a scattering of English-trained horses, and the meeting had a ‘mini-Delaney Weekend’ feel with the few new faces both equine and human.

The Saturday card featured wholly local runners and was dominated by the three-year-old trotting series.

The first-season trotters are arranged by low, medium and high grade according to monies won since April and the system seems fair enough.

Flawless

In the ‘hitching and skipping’ grade, Fermanagh-trained Hurricane Star put in a flawless round of trotting for Darren Timlin. Those all around him either broke or showed signs of greenness.

In the ‘getting there’ division Harry Knows got into a fluent rhythm for Patrick Kane junior.

He looked a different horse from the one which was prone to pacing in his first couple of starts. It helps when your driver is also a farrier. Patrick’s cousin Mary Kane owned the runner-up, Hot To Trot, a catch drive for Bernard Nicholson.

The final division could be called the ‘good enough for France’ division, for that is surely what the five owners will be hoping.

Here, the classy Hibernia was sent to the front from the get-go by Alan Richardson and won without turning a hair. Humble Beginnings ran second with Martin Loughran steering for trainer Jamie Hurley.

Today sees the final of this series. Unfortunately the level of prize money has not been accurately advertised, and this is something that needs to be addressed for the good of the sport.

On the pacing gait Joe Caffrey lost the maiden tag with the filly Mesmerised. “She’s a nice filly with some of the traits of her mother, Coalford Cabrini,” added the Ashbourne-based trainer.

Billy Roche’s successful season continues as he drove the hard-knocking racehorse Panam Colt to win a division of the All-Ireland Series for owners Gannon and Mitchell.

As so often before, ‘Hopper’ Foran coaxed some improvement from a horse, in this case Moorside Captain who was second.

The favourite Master Plan (Alan Richardson) was hampered at the start and connections will consider their runner was unlucky.

Andy McTaggart’s Feugeres Erem made it three wins from her last six starts in the Grade E trot.

Previously driven by Sean Kane, the mare is back at home in Newtownabbey and was driven by Sean’s cousin Patrick junior on this occasion. She seems to enjoy bowling along in front and Patrick allowed her to scalp on.

Feugeres Erem’s win brought up a double on the day for Trim-based Patrick.

The first division of the All-Ireland Trot looked to be a two horse race.

The determined-looking Eva Dairpet led out, made all for Alan Wallace junior. 2019 trotter of the year Besame Mucho was put in a position to win by John Richardson but did not pick up, staying on one paced for second. Eva Dairpet clocked a sharp 3.08.2 for a mile and a half.

The other division of this series was a better spectacle. Curly Du Layon prevailed in a driving finish for the Loughran yard of Omeath. The ultra-consistent Beach De Bellouet was runner-up for Billy Roche.

Racing continues today at Annaghmore, Co. Armagh and tomorrow at Portmarnock. Both fixtures are ‘participants only’.

See www.portmarnockraceway.ie for further details.