BALLINABOOLA has proven to be a happy hunting ground for John Paul Brennan, with Boruing Up A Storm and his ill-fated stable star Need To Know bringing him into the winner’s enclosure at the Wexford venue. That continued to be the case when he unleashed his newcomer, The Three Wizards (5-7/1), to run out an impressive winner of the five and six-year-old mares’ maiden.
Bought privately in England, the daughter of Oscar loomed large as a big danger under John O’Neill approaching the home bend, and she soon picked off the leaders to win by eight lengths over fellow newcomer That’s The Truth in the colours of Marie Brennan.
“She is a mare that we think is very smart. All her work with geldings has been very good and I was hoping she would put in a performance like that,” reported the winning Camolin-based handler, who will now offer the five-year-old for sale.
A visit to the sales ring was on the agenda for a number of the day’s other winners, with Rapid Raider (6-8/1) set to be offered at the upcoming Cheltenham sale following his five-length defeat of €50,000 Derby Sale recruit Enjoy D’Allen in the five-year-old geldings’ maiden.
Representing the father and son team of Liam and James Kenny, the chesnut son of Golden Lariat overcame early keenness to return home five lengths clear in the colours of Gorey native Gavan Kinch, who has been the long standing point-to-point secretary for the Island hunt and their fixture which takes place at Courtown in April.
“We were hoping to run him as a four-year-old and had him ready to go, but then he got a bit of a nick so we had to take our time,” reported the winning handler of his first winner of the season.
HEADLINES
Envoi Allen stole all the headlines at last year’s fixture when he realised £400,000 following his debut success in the four-year-old maiden, and the 2019 renewal of the four-year-old maiden also fell to his former connections, when Barry O’Neill and Colin Bowe teamed up with Telmesomethinggirl (5/2-1/1 favourite).
The daughter of Stowaway, who had been bought for €39,000 at the inaugural Tattersalls Ireland May Sale by O’Neill’s weigh-tent colleague Rob James, had her task simplified when Alfa Mix and The Grey Falco departed at the second last, and that allowed her to win eased down by three lengths over the fast-finishing Zero To Hero.
Carrying the Milestone Racing Partnership colours, the daughter of Stowaway was following in the footsteps of the Grade 2-placed If You Say run by defeating geldings in a four-year-old maiden at the course, and she too is likely to be seen in new ownership when graduating to the track.
“We gave her a schooling bumper at home with the geldings and she finished upsides, so we knew coming here she was smart. Barry (O’Neill) couldn’t pull her up afterwards, so she had plenty left in the tank,” said Bowe.
WORHTWHILE
The near 400-mile round-trip for David Christie was made worthwhile when Winged Leader (4/5-4/6 favourite) made a winning debut for his Fermanagh stable, in an eight-length victory that saw the five-year-old bring up a hat-trick in the winners of three contest.
A wide-margin winner at the same venue in November on what was his final start for Donnchadh Doyle, the five-year-old was sporting new colours for his reappearance, as he has been bought by John Hegarty and Jennifer O’Kane of the Royal Court Hotel in Portrush, two well-known owners on the northern points circuit. They look to have a very smart recruit on their hands following his defeat of recent Tinahely scorer Ballinasilla.
“He is a beautiful horse to get that Rob (James) recommended to me. He is a real hunter chaser. We will go for another point-to-point, just to teach him more, and then if everything is well, we will look at the hunter chase at Down Royal on March 17th,” remarked the winning handler.
Brian Jordan has travelled far and wide with Spanish Leather (4-7/1) since the son of Ask made his debut in a four-year-old maiden at Templencarriga two years ago. The Duncormick-based handler did not have to venture as far to have his faith rewarded, when he comfortably landed the six-year-old geldings’ maiden in the hands of Mark Scallan.
The Inish Stables Partnership-owned bay easily accounted for Kilrane Road by six lengths.
“He swallowed a sod the last day that we ran him in Tattersalls and it cut him out for a second so we were disappointed. Thank God he was grand today. He had been unlucky to get a couple of falls and things just didn’t go his way,” reported Jordan.
Tony Martin has only made a handful of forays into the point-to-point sphere in recent times, but he made a worthwhile visit to Ballinaboola when Cle En Main (4/5 favourite) justified his short price to win handsomely under Evan Dwan in the older maiden for novice riders.
Owned by Donal Houlihan, the French-bred son of Voix Du Nord, proved much too good for his six rivals, defeating Mister Flemington by six lengths.
HORSE TO FOLLOW
THE GREY FALCO (D. Murphy): A good looking four-year-old who had yet to be asked for maximum effort when coming down at the second last, he had looked likely to play a big role in the finish.
Epic hunt race a great success
THE first running of a members hunt race proved to be a huge success for the Wexford Foxhounds with great excitement on track before the 11 riders set off in a race that was won by the stand-in huntsman Johnny Howard in a thrilling finish. Point-to-point secretary Mark O’Connor reported that the meeting attracted their biggest crowd to date at the course, with a large proportion of the crowd remaining for the new finale.
Hospitality on offer
THE many volunteers on the day were very well looked after by Jacinta Reville and her team of hunt supporters who were driving around the course providing hot drinks, sandwiches and soup to keep the fence stewards and various other volunteers warm between races.
Winning connections were invited into the hunt’s separate hospitality marquee, where members had put on a big spread of food and beverages.
As is the case at each of their fixtures, a collection was taken for charity, with the New Ross children’s pilgrimage to Lourdes fund the chosen beneficiary this year.
O’Neill returns with great confidence
KILDARE rider John O’Neill made an immediate impact on his return to pointing, riding with real confidence to produce The Three Wizards to run out a facile winner of the mares’ maiden on what was his first day back since May last year. The winning rider received plenty of praise from John Paul Brennan who noted: “John has done a bit of schooling for me and he gave her a great ride. He is great value for his 5lb claim.”