THE two local tracks, Down Royal and Downpatrick, staged National Hunt meetings over the extended Bank Holiday weekend and thankfully there were northern-trained winners both days.

At Down Royal on Friday evening, when the card was supported by the Northern Ireland On-Course Bookmakers Association, Darragh O’Keeffe landed the Tommy Donnelly Bookmaker Hurdle over three miles on the Victor Wilson-owned and trained Mon Storm who was entered to run over fences at Kilbeggan last night.

Friday’s win was the fifth in the 27-race career of Mon Storm, a 10-year-old gelded son of September Storm. The bay was bred in Co Tyrone by Francis Small and is the third of just four foals out of the British-bred Double Trigger mare Angie’s Double who won three times over hurdles.

Keeling winner

While neither the owner nor the trainer is northern, I’d also like to say how great it was that the colours of Ivon Keeling were carried to victory by Donagh Meyler in the Pinnacle Sports Bookmakers Maiden Hurdle on the Karl Thornton-trained Rich Belief. For many years, Ivon rode each weekend during the season at northern point-to-points and was regional champion in 1983.

On Bank Holiday Monday at Downpatrick, David Christie and Sean McParlan both trained winners. The former saddled the Darragh O’Keeffe-ridden Ask The Leader (20/1) to land the Molson Coors Beverage Company Handicap Hurdle for owner Kieran Mahon.

Conor Maxwell carried the colours of owner/breeder Martin Ward to victory in the Remembering The McDowell Family’s “Caughoo” Ulster & Aintree Grand National Winner Handicap Chase on the McParlan-trained Drummullagh Rocky (12/1).

Striking it Rich at Aintree riding show

RICH Man Poor Man did nothing to enhance his family’s reputation during his career on the racecourse but the eight-year-old was declared a champion last weekend at Aintree.

The Robin Des Champs gelding was bred in Hilltown by Gary Kerr and is the only recorded foal out of the Jimble mare Mistaken Identity, an unraced half-sister to the Winged Love gelding Magnanimity (whose four wins included a Grade 2 hurdle and a Grade 2 chase) and the eight-time winner Forest Dante (by Phardante). This is the family of Amberleigh House, winner of the 2004 Grand National at Aintree.

Rich Man Poor Man was consigned as a foal to the 2013 National Hunt Sale at Tattersalls Ireland by Ballyash Stud whose owner, John Kidd, remembers the then colt as “a smashing-looking horse”. He was knocked down for €15,000 to Rathbarry Stud. He came up under the Glenwood Stud banner as a three-year-old gelding at the 2016 Land Rover Sale at Goffs where he was purchased for €14,000 by North Yorkshire trainer Phil Kirby.

Disappointingly, Rich Man Poor Man never earned any of that outlay back for Kirby who saddled the horse to run five times over hurdles in early 2017, his record reading PP9PP. Happily, he is faring a lot better in the show ring and on Saturday, at The Jockey Club/Retraining of Racehorses National Championships in the Aintree International Equestrian Centre, he was crowned the RoR Tattersalls special champion for owner Morean Hamilton and rider Kirstine Douglas.

In the night’s supreme championship, Douglas and Rich Man Poor Man stood reserve to the Katie Dashwood-ridden novice show horse champion Minella Rebellion. See page 49.

Dennison pointers get ready for off

THOSE early attendees at today’s Eventing Ireland Northern Region one-day event at Loughanmore are bound to see plenty of the point-to-pointers trained on the estate by Colin McKeever for Wilson Dennison being ridden around the grounds.

Of the 147 hunters’ certificates registered with the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board last week, 31 horses, all geldings, are due to run in Dennison’s well-known black-and-white-quartered colours. The vast majority of these are in the care of McKeever, while five are being trained by Jamie Sloan who has also registered two certs for horses owned by Ronnie Bartlett.

Kian ‘Tubs’ is everywhere

HE hardly needs any extra publicity – being more than capable of selling himself to the world – but congratulations to pony racing’s Kian ‘Tubs’ McNally on recording his first treble, from just three rides, at Bundoran last Sunday. The wins came on Five Stone Of Lead (one-mile, four-furlong open), Unhinged (14hh one-mile, two-furlong race) and Where It Began (12.2hh six-furlong race).

Recently we have seen social media postings of Kian with a rosette following his ride in the two-phase event at Cloncaw Equestrian in Glaslough on his mother Sheena Kerr-McNally’s Pegasus, aka Bob The Cob, and modelling clothes for Sheena’s Armagh Sports & Trophies shop.

We also saw a photograph of him looking very dapper in a school uniform which we assume had more to do with his education than his modelling career!

Team Young in top form winning at Saratoga

BANBRIDGE native Paddy Young was present at Saratoga on Wednesday when his wife Leslie saddled the first two home in the $65,000 Oxmoor Chase over the national fences.

The final jumps race of the spa town season, the two-mile, three-furlong chase was won by Gerard Galligan on Booby Trap while Tom Garner was a length and a quarter back in second on Perfect Tapatino. Co Kildare-born Galligan was champion jumps jockey in the States last year and will only have to win four more titles to match Young whose championship successes came between 2009 and 2015.