WHILE National Hunt racing resumes in Ireland on Monday evening at Limerick, the revised jumps season in the US got under way last Saturday in Middleburg, Virginia where there were two northern-bred winners on the 10-race card.

First of the pair to strike behind closed doors was the Colin Kennedy-bred Critical Data who, trained by Richard Valentine and ridden by Tallow native Kieran Norris, landed the four-year-old maiden hurdle over two miles and one furlong in the colours of Runnymoore Racing.

From the first crop of Battle Of Marengo, the bay gelding ran 10 times as a two-year-old in Britain for Richard Hannon, winning twice, finishing second once and placing third on four occasions. He last represented the East Everleigh handler in mid-October 2018 at Chelmsford where he was beaten by one and a quarter lengths into second in a mile-and-two nursery. He had five starts in the US prior to Saturday.

Critical Data is the third of six recorded foals out of the Kodiac mare How Sweet It Is, with the Kennedy family’s Meadowlands Stud receiving 10,000gns for him as a foal at Newmarket. He made twice that amount at the same venue as a yearling and his price at the end of his juvenile career climbed to 115,000gns.

The second northern-bred winner on Saturday’s card was the former point-to-pointer Zoom Zoom Zoe who, on her track debut, came home in front in the two-mile, one-furlong mares’ maiden hurdle over the national fences. The bay provided Co Kildare-born jockey Gerard Galligan and trainer Jonathan Sheppard with the third leg of a treble.

Zoom Zoom Zoe, who finished third against the boys in a division of the four-year-old maiden at Borris House in March on her only start for Ellen Doyle, comes from the first crop of Leading Light. She was bred in Co Down by Danny Doran and is the third of six foals out of Sixofone, an unraced daughter of Tikkanen who Doran also bred out of the French mare Magnissima.

“Jeremy Maxwell, who was probably the only man buying horses in France at that stage, helped me buy Magnissima who was old at the time but a winning dam of a rake of blacktype winners including Polivalente (by Poliglote) and Grand Souvenir (by Legend Of France). I wanted a filly out of her and finally got two by Tikkanen following three geldings.”

Sixofone, who was her last foal, is dam previously of the dual point-to-point winner Getting Closer (by Winged Love) and the Getaway filly Lex Eleven who, from four starts, was second in a Sedgefield bumper last October for the Dan Skelton yard.

Sixofone had a filly last year by Jukebox Jury and a colt in late May by the same sire. Her 2017 gelding by Sageburg is due to come up as Lot 404 at the Derby Sale to which he is being consigned by Brenda McMillen’s Hillcrest Stables.

Unionville trainer Leslie Young, who is married to Banbridge-born former US champion jumps jockey Paddy Young, saddled the French-bred Andi’amu to land the Middleburg Hunt Cup over timber.

Graham Watters and Mark Beecher, who spent some time living and pointing in Northern Ireland, also tasted success on Saturday. Co Meath-born Watters rode two winners – the opening training race for owner Irvin Naylor and Co Waterford-born trainer Cyril Murphy on the British-bred Chief Justice – and the maiden claimer on My Own Lane (see report page 48).