IT was a good week for the Comber-based Brentwood Farm with Rockportian winning on his debut at Tyrella last Saturday while Jetstream Jack landed his second hurdle race at Musselburgh on Monday.

A son of Definite Article, the six-year-old Rockportian was bred by David Mitchell out of the Buckley mare Wilmott’s Fancy who won a bumper and was successful twice over hurdles.

A half-sister to the eight-time winner Percy Smollett and from the family of Western Sunset and Stormyfairweather, she has bred two track winners from three runners.

Rockportian, who scored by 15 lengths on Saturday in the hands of Rob James, is trained by Warren Ewing for Newtownards’ Leonard Cave. The latter had slight misgivings about running the horse on the deteriorating ground in the concluding older geldings’ maiden but was delighted with the outcome.

Jetstream Jack was bred by Mitchell’s partner Elizabeth ‘Hammy’ Hamilton out of the Presenting mare Westgrove Berry.

The 2010 Beneficial gelding is his dam’s second foal following the year older Nendrum (by Westerner) who, in the breeder’s own colours, was second in a maiden hurdle at Ayr last month for the Stuart Crawford yard.

In the care of Eoin Doyle, Jetstream Jack won a four-year-old point-to-point maiden third time out at Affane in November 2014.

He was then purchased for Diana Whateley and moved to Gordon Elliott who saddled the bay to land a bumper at the 2015 New Year’s Day fixture at Fairyhouse.

Jetstream Jack

Jetstream Jack won his maiden hurdle at Clonmel in November and was then placed second twice, claiming the runner-up spot behind Up For Review in a Grade 2 race at Punchestown on the final day of last year.

Westgrove Berry, who won a bumper and two hurdle races, is a half-sister to four winners including the Insan gelding Sheer Genius, who was also Grade 2 and Grade 3-placed, and Mendip Express. The last-named, a five-time track scorer and the winner seven times between the flags who featured in last week’s The Point section of this paper, is now owned by Downpatrick-born amateur David Maxwell who hopes to partner the King’s Theatre 10-year-old in the Foxhunters’ at Cheltenham.

Another Hamilton-bred winning half-sister to this trio, who come from the family of Fiddling The Facts, Facts Not Fiction and For Non Stop, is Topanberry (by Topanoora) whose second track runner, Sanibel Island (by Scorpion), finished second for the Elliott yard in the bumper at Down Royal last Wednesday week.

Along with Mitchell, Hammy was at Saturday’s point-to-point and, as a committee member of the Northern Region of Eventing Ireland who are staging three one-days at the venue this spring, she will be interested to see how the tireless Pat Turley, chairman of the hunt and clerk of the course, gets the course back in order for the second meeting here next month.

As Pat knows the land here well, it will probably be no bother to him but starter Craig Cavan said that he had never seen conditions at the track so soft since he first attended racing at the Corbett family estate in 1964.