IT was disappointing that there were only five horses entered in the older geldings’ maiden for novice riders at Loughrea last Sunday.

However, the two newcomers, Okey Dokey and Crookesmoor, both fell and, when the once-previously raced The Germany One pulled-up, it was left to the more experienced pair to fight out the finish. At the post, the 2/1 favourite Rockmount Rocker was 15 lengths up on his rival, Troll D’Oudairies who has some good placed form to his credit.

The six-year-old winner, homebred by his Co Waterford owner Jenny Hunt, is by the deceased Broken Hearted stallion Albano who has only eight progeny registered on the p2p.ie database. One of these is Rockmount Rocker’s 2007 full-sister Amber Hill who won a mares’ maiden at Tinahely in January 2012.

The pair are the only named foals registered with Weatherbys out of the unraced Coolville, an Un Desperado half-sister to Battlefront (by Pistolet Bleu) who won 10 point-to-points and three chases. This is the family of the Aintree and Irish National winner Rhyme ‘N’ Reason among others. In more recent years, Coolville’s stock have been registered with the Irish Horse Register although one of the quartet, a 2013 colt, is by the American thoroughbred Spirit House, a non-winning son of Hansel.

Albano has bred four winners on the racetrack, sired the 2015 supreme champion hunter at the Dublin Horse Show, Rosemary Connors’s homebred Woodfield Alight, and has plenty of progeny competing successfully.