MOIRA played host to a lively and atmospheric opening fixture in the northern region, one that was particularly notable for providing a number of young riders with their first career successes, including 18-year-old Adam Leahy who opened his account aboard Rewritetherules (5/4 - 6/4) in the day’s feature, the open lightweight.
The Dermot O’Rourke-owned seven-year-old, last season’s Bishopscourt Cup victor, took up his customary position at the rear of the field before storming to the front entering the back straight on the final circuit.
That notable pace injection proved decisive as he was not headed over the final four fences to defeat the returning favourite Dylrow by four lengths. It was fitting that the Co Carlow native got his first win on a horse trained by Shark Hanlon, with the Grade 1-winning trainer having put him up on a racehorse for the first time at the age of 12, and he now works full-time for Hanlon following a two-year spell with Willie Mullins.
Recent Monksgrange runner-up Rewritetherules meanwhile could be next seen in the Doncaster sales ring as he is entered in the upcoming Goffs UK Autumn Sale.
That opening victory for Leahy had followed hot on the heels of the similar feat which Danesfort 20-year-old Troy Walsh had achieved just 30 minutes earlier with the success of Garm Colombe (7/1 - 8/1) in the five-year-old geldings’ maiden.
Making his pointing debut with a hurdles mark of 105 following six track outings for Paul Nolan, the Saddler Maker gelding crucially outjumped Gonfalonier at the final fence to open his account for Aidan Fitzgerald’s Cobajay Stables in the colours of Fitzgerald’s wife Ashling.
“It is nice to be able to give Troy the chances as he is a great worker,” said the absent winning handler speaking from his daughter Rosie’s eighth birthday party. “The kids were bouncing on the bouncing castles in the garden and I was bouncing on the lawn cheering him on!”
Strong start
Sweet Auborn (2/1 - 5/2) made up for her departure on her debut at Monksgrange as she maintained Colin Bowe and Barry O’Neill’s strong start to the season when taking the mares’ maiden.
Asserting in the home straight, the daughter of Ask had too many gears for her six rivals as she returned four lengths clear of Colin McBratney’s eye-catching Alpine Annie,.
Plans remain fluid for the winning five-year-old who is owned by the Ruby Ann Syndicate which is made up of the Conlon family from Tulsk in Co. Roscommon.
Super Sofia makes 10-hour trip worth it for O’Reilly
THE 10-hour round trip from Kinsale certainly proved worthwhile for Cork handler Jason O’Reilly after his first runner of the campaign, Sofias Castle (7/2 - 10/1) bounced back to form in some style to take the mares’ winner-of-one contest under Eoin O’Brien.
The John White-owned and -bred daughter of Arctic Cosmos had been unable to build upon her latest victory at Tinahely last October, but she was back to her best with Eoin O’Brien executing a well-judged ride to kick on around the home bend.
Try as the well-backed favourite Alice O’Byrne did to reel her in, the deficit was too much, with a length and a half separating them at the line.
“She had a dirty nose after Ballingarry, so I put her in the field and she has come back in a different mare,” said O’Reilly who has eight horses for the season. “There is a mares’ open in Lisronagh in a couple of weeks’ time that we will look at.”
Mitchelstown-based O’Brien could conceivably have left the fixture with a first and last race double, as his mount in the four-year-old maiden, Cillians Charm, still held the lead coming to the final fence only for a costly error handing the initiative to the challenging Bold Reaction (8/1 - 10/1). With the long-time leader unable to respond on the short run-in it was Warren Ewing’s Bold Reaction who opened his account.
The two-length victory provided Dara McGill with the rather unique accomplishment of riding his first winner in a four-year-old maiden to start a new partnership between the Derry native, who is the son of Maghera handler Gary McGill, and owner-trainer Ewing.
“Dara works for me now and he will ride all the horses this season,” explained the Antrim-based handler in whose colours Bold Reaction was also running. “He is a fine horse, he was a bit keen for the first half of the race but once he settled down he was good. He had worked like a good horse and ran a nice race before he fell two-out down in Cork.”
A PAIR of long-absent stable debutants fought out the finish of the older maiden as Dromara handler Caroline McCaldin saddled the first two home for the first time in her training career when Faith Loving (4/1 - 9/2) got the better of stablemate Dukehill by a length as Michael Sweeney rode out his 5lb claim.
The pair had previously been handled by Colin McKeever for McCaldin’s father Wilson Dennison, with the six-year-old Faith Loving absent over 700 days since he finished third in a Toomebridge four-year-old maiden on his sole previous competitive appearance. However, he belied that absence as he was produced to challenge his stablemate at the final fence before going on to win by a length in the colours of the handler’s husband Alan.
McCaldin, who is also the point-to-point secretary for next month’s Co Down point-to-point in Loughbrickland, hopes to target both horses at the maiden hunter chase at Limerick over Christmas, a race that she saddled Samurai Cracker to win in 2019.
Horse to follow
So Original (D. Doyle): The Getaway gelding jumped the penultimate fence in ninth before powering down the home straight to finish third, beaten just five lengths.