THE 2026 season may be in its dying weeks, but nonetheless there was some good sport served up at the northern outpost last Sunday. Jonny Cowden narrowed the gap at the top of The Irish Field Leading Driver Championship to four, as he steered a double on the day.
John Richardson, who was actually the senior driver on the card, also drove two winners.
Jonny’s brace opened in the Grade D to F pace. Coalford Henry H was warm order favourite (4/5) in this and Simon Duggan rattled him out of the gate. Jonny had to use Just A Moment twice, firstly to come from seventh to second.
The Glengormley driver took a pull, gave his horse a breather and then ran down the Tyrone pacer in the straight. The winner is owned by David Curtin and trained in Ederney by Neville Martin. The time of 2.00 ‘and change’ was the fastest of the day.
Second win
Jonny made it two with John Richardson’s Kickinginthesand in the Department Of Agriculture-backed Future Broodmares Pace. By his own admission, Cowden got the rub of the green here, as favourite Oakwood Roxie was travelling with purpose when she went off her legs. Even the stylish Patrick Kane jnr can have days that go wrong.
“I was delighted with Just A Moment, as he wasn’t at his best the last day,” commented Jonny, “the mare was starting to tire and we were lucky that Patrick’s mare broke.”
The runner-up is owned by John Ball jnr of Brentford, London, who has been a regular in the Orchard County this year and speaks well of the Irish scene when he attends York and Tir Prince.
If Jonny Cowden is 5/1 to catch Patrick in the race for the coveted silver salver, then John Richardson must be 100/1. JR showed that there is life in the old dog yet, as he won with Kermess De Croq (Grade F trot) and Hallucinant (Grade A5 to E trot).
Both winners made every yard of the running. Kermesse Du Croq beat a fairly undistinguished bunch in 2.03.4. Kondor De Vandal put in an improved display in second for Sean Kane.
No chance
The talk around the place was that at least two of the entries in the high grade trot were withdrawn because connections felt they had no chance against Harry Knows, even with a 65-yard start.
Surely these owners were kicking themselves on Sunday night, as the race went to the outsider of three Hallucinant and the bold JR.
The story of the race was simple. Hallucinant led from his ‘gate’ position, thanks to the two defectors. The chesnut gelding maintained an even tempo and, when Patrick Kane jnr asked Harry Knows for his effort, the usual fluency was nowhere to be seen. Hallucinant kept going to the line for one of the upsets of the year. 2.03.3 is the winner’s best effort in Ireland.
Harry Knows is still a great champion. All credit to the Kanes they raced him frequently, even trying France again and I wouldn’t be surprised if Harry gets a winter break now. He owes nobody.
John Richardson told The Irish Field: “I’d be disappointed if Kermesse couldn’t win today. She is uncomplicated, more like a pacer. I thought Hallucinant would only be third, but I could hear Billy getting after his horse (Hulk De Chantereine, second) and I looked around and saw that Harry wasn’t travelling.”
Mary Gilligan’s Hot To Trot is the epitome of a tough little mare. They joke around Mooreside Stables that ‘Lolly’, to give the mare her stable name, has kept the lights on in the yard for six years now.
Hot To Trot won a great tussle over Jelina Benoit (JR) and Grande Galaxie (Gavin Murdock) in the Department Of Agriculture trotting mares division. Long-time leader Juvenile faded tamely.
Hot To Trot kept drifting in the ring and went off at 7/2. Sean Kane was in the sulky for his sister.
Extrem Ryld, a 12-year-old gelding, has been a great help in Adam Corey’s fledgling career. He put in a nice round of trotting to see off Funky Du Noyer (Tiernan Grimes) in the apprentice trot.
Joseph Caffrey makes it two in a row with Hidden Assets \ Chloé Nelson
Ashbourne-based Joseph Caffrey made it two from two aboard Hidden Assets in the Grade G pace. In an eventful race, Joseph met traffic like Drumcondra on All-Ireland Sunday, but he had enough horse to pick up a typical October low-grade contest. Stateside Veloce (Calvin Broughan for Jim Galway) got the silver medal.
Racing continues tomorrow at Annaghmore, with All-Ireland Finals for both trotters and pacers. Information at www.irisharnessracing.com Replays on IHRA You Tube channel.
A SIZEABLE contingent of Irish horsemen travelled to York Raceway on October 10th for a yearling sale, followed by a race meeting. Irish buyers bought 16 of the 56 lots of offer, presumably incentivised by the IHRA Juvenile Series, in which the prize fund keeps growing.
The top-priced colt was Ayr Of The Dog (Bull Dog Hanover - Hey Day Hanover), who fetched £47,000 while the highest-priced filly was Ayr Harmony (Sweet Lou - Sold Out) at £41,000. Stephen Lees junior was an effective auctioneer.
In general, the UK breeders had their young stock well turned out, with Ryan O’Neil’s Ayr Standardbreds and the Maw family’s Coalford consignment drawing many compliments.
For those Irish horsemen who did not travel to York, there was a beauty pageant with a difference at Annaghmore on Sunday! The transporter who brought 16 lots home had arranged to arrive at Annaghmore just before racing on Sunday.
Therefore, each yearling came down the ramp of the lorry to a crowd of curious onlookers, an unlikely catwalk.
The colts and fillies were fired up, having come from their relaxed stud farms to the noise of sales day at York to the bustle of the huge lorry.
The youngsters ranged from big masculine types, who looked more like two-year-olds, to a few smaller lots and the price would reflect the difference.
Standardbreds race on tight tracks and recent seasons have contained several strapping big sales toppers, who were not ready at two.
Here is a list of some Irish-bought lots. The list was not endorsed by the organisers and is not intended to be exhaustive - some further lots were bought privately outside of the ring. The dream is still on for the 16 owners whose stock came off JD Transport’s horsebox: