THE strength of the northern point-to-point scene was further underlined yesterday week at Ascot.

The Grade 2 Mitie Noel Novices’ Chase (which attracted just three runners) was fought out between two horses who had won their maidens – on their only starts between the flags in the pointing fields – in the northern region.

Successful in a Portrush maiden in October 2016, the highly-regarded Finian’s Oscar was fancied to get back to winning ways in this two-mile, five-furlong chase.

However, hard as the 6/5 favourite tried to rally under Bryan Cooper, he couldn’t get back up to beat Benatar who had taken over from the market-leader at the last and held on to win by a short-head.

The successful Beneficial gelding, who comes from the Lalor’s great ‘Carrigeen’ family, brought up a hat-trick of chase victories here for the Gary Moore yard.

He won a maiden hurdle for connections at Fontwell last January and finished fourth behind Finian’s Oscar in the Grade 1 novices’ hurdle at Aintree in early April.

Benatar claimed his point-to-point maiden at Loughbrickland in November 2016 when he was owned and trained by Karen McNeilly. The bay won the four-year-old maiden that day by 15 lengths in the hands of Mark O’Hare after which he was sold privately.

Claimantakinforgan, who won the Grade 2 Supreme Trial Novices’ Hurdle on the same Ascot card, was also successful between the flags in the northern region, landing a four-year-old geldings’ maiden at Loughanmore in March 2016 on the second of just two point-to-point starts.

Co Derry trainer Noel Kelly doesn’t mind travelling to Britain in search of winners and, on the same afternoon but at Uttoxeter, he saddled Frank Reynolds’s Global Fert to land the two-mile novices’ handicap hurdle under Adam Short.

This was a first success in seven starts on the track for the 2010 Flemensfirth gelding but he was sent off 9/4 favourite in the nine-runner field.