THE posters in the early days of harness racing in Ireland used to proclaim ‘American Style Harness Racing’.

John Richardson has not a drop of American blood but he still celebrated Independence Day with a treble on Sunday, July 4th.

JR’s treble was completed by Meadowbranch Aurora in the closing race, a lowly maiden contest. The filly was any price ‘on the machine’ at the three-quarter pole but John showed all of his guile to save ground on the bend and then perform an eye-of-a-needle manouevre to see off Billy Roche who was hard at work on Forget The Rest.

The second leg of the treble came when Columbia d’Oyse, a nine-year-old mare, won in 2.05.7. The winner has been absent since winning in the early season.

“She has been tying up badly and I didn’t want to race her until she was properly fit,” was the comment from the multiple champion. Bibi Dairpet was the runner-up for Donal Murphy.

The catchily named Immaculata won the first three-year-old trot of the year, to start JR’s good afternoon. The French ‘babies’ can have good days and bad and these contests are usually won by the runner that ‘stays down’, and so it proved.

Isabella Creggane owned by sulky retailer Cyril Gemmell and driven by Billy Roche showed speed in second place but kept making skips.

Current leader of The Irish Field national drivers’ championship, Patrick Kane jnr drove one winner on the day when Harry Knows obliged in the manner of a long-odds-on shot.

John Richardson and Donal Murphy are joint second, six wins behind the Trim man.

Richardson lost a winner during the week when Dusty Jiel was demoted from a ‘win’ on 20th June.

Following a bizarre series of decisions by the stewards the horse was confirmed the official winner on the day despite appearing (to many observers) to have exceeded the 15-stride rule.

Sean Kane broke his current Portmarnock jinx as Duccio was moved up to second in the Dusty Jiel race.

The lack of female drivers at the venue has been frequently bemoaned on this column. On the day, two females showed the boys how it should be done, both with brave front-running displays.

First win

Leah McNevin (16) from Rathcoole got her lifetime first with Liam Wallace’s Newtown Alana. The Governor (as Wallace is known) would approve of the waiting-in-front tactics employed.

Leah kept pressing the little daughter of All American Captor and eventually they sickened Mooreside Captain and Stephen McHugh.

Erin Flanagan enjoyed a similar pillar-to-post success aboard the solid chesnut mare Epopee du Layon. Father Mark and mum Ann should be proud of Erin’s gritty performance. The mare is the sixth winner in Ireland bred by Didier Lepage from the Loire valley, quite a record.

Varus de Cormon, he of the low head carriage, ran second with Bernard Nicholson in the bike.

Another Trotteur Français who races without a head-check, Dariana Start, took a Grade F trot for owner Andrew Joyce and driver Billy Roche.

Billy will accommodate any quirks the mare might have. She was reported as well-backed with one firm. Geribia de Laval led for a long time with Donal Murphy before succumbing to Roche’s well-timed drive.

Emil Paco was a bit boisterous behind the mobile in the grade E trot and caused a false start. The rules say if a horse causes a false start he must move to the outside for the second attempt.

The imposition did not bother driver Brendan Morgan. He has lovely hands to settle a horse, and the pair duly beat Extreme Ryld (Jonny Cowden) by a good five lengths.

‘The Iceman’, Alan Richardson made it two in a row with Transparency in the top grade pace. The lightly raced six-year-old won well in 1.58.2 and will be fancied for all the big pots of the high season.

Decent run

The apple of Alan Wallace’s eye, namely Newtown Rock, was three lengths away in second, a decent run off 30 yards.

Patrick Hill’s good run with Halloway Road continues and they took the lesser grade four-year-old trot. The time of 2.05.6 would indicate that the winner is progressing.

The McAteers from Randalstown had a quiet 2020 compared to the previous year. The stable star Cyclone de Couriere won on his seasonal reappearance for driver Daniel McAteer.

The big horse likes to roll on and Daniel kept him prominent throughout.