THERE were seven Irish-bred winners on the 10-race card at the International meeting at Barbury racecourse last Sunday including One True King who landed the Goffs four- and five-year-old maiden over two and a half miles for Wexford trainer Cormac Doyle.

Fifth at Mainstown at the start of this month on his fifth start in Ireland, One True King was partnered on Sunday by English amateur James King who made nearly all the running on the Getaway gelding, who was bred in Co Tipperary by Joe Fogarty out of the Glacial Storm mare Final Leave.

The 2015 chesnut, who was sent off a 5/1 chance, won by a comfortable four and a half lengths from the year-older Scorpion newcomer Young O’Leary, a one-time resident of Doyle’s Monbeg Stables. Four lengths further back in third came the Sophie Lacey-trained favourite Lagonda, a British-bred four-year-old mare by Great Pretender who, too, was making her debut.

“No comment,” was the diplomatic reply of Doyle’s representative, Graham Breen, when asked to compare the standard of maidens in Ireland and Britain.

The Eugene O’Sullivan-trained Military Poet pulled up in this race, with the best of the Co Cork handler’s five runners at the meeting being Fix The Bill (6/1) who finished second in the opening Irish Thoroughbred Marketing two-mile flat race for four- and five-year-olds.

First ride

The Stowaway gelding was a first ride for Eugene’s nephew Alan O’Sullivan, 16-year-old brother of Michael and son of William, who went on to finish fourth in the veteran conditions race on Leg Lock Luke.

Fix The Bill was beaten by one and a half lengths by fellow newcomer Raffle Ticket (6/4 favourite), a five-year-old British-bred gelding by Fair Mix. This was a fifth winner of the campaign for trainer Philip Rowley and a fourth for rider Alex Edwards.

The Alan King Racing and Jockey Club maiden over two and a half miles for mares and fillies was won by the pointing debutante Lady Sally who was having her first start since finishing sixth of seven, under her rookie trainer, Co Tipperary-born National Hunt jockey Mark Grant, in a Ludlow bumper in October 2018.

Ridden here by Zac Baker, the five-year-old Scorpion mare was bred by Grant’s mother Elizabeth out of the point-to-point winner Broken Gale. That 2000 Broken Hearted mare is a half-sister to five track winners including the seven-time scorer Takagi.

There were 10 finishers in the 17-runner Jockey Club & Retraining of Racehorses veteran conditions race but none of the other nine really troubled Horizontal Speed who led at the second fence and made the rest of the running to beat Western Diva by 25 lengths. That victory saw Charlie Marshall record his first success for trainer Alan Hill.

Family on top

The concluding Tattersalls Ireland maiden, for six-year-olds and upwards, was won by the Bradley Gibbs-ridden Family Man who is trained by Ryan Potter for his partner, Emma Yardley.

Placed in both his starts here in the spring of 2018 when trained by Donie Hassett, the now six-year-old Gold Well gelding wasn’t placed in four runs over hurdles for Nigel Twiston-Davies and Potter bought him at Doncaster in September for just £800. Family Man, who finished third at Dunsmore on his British pointing debut, was bred by Rodney Deacon out of the Mandalus mare Greenacre Mandalay.

One-time Co Clare resident Caroline Robinson saw her colours carried to success in the mixed open by her daughter Immy on The Dellercheckout who was trained by the aforementioned Cormac Doyle when winning his maiden on debut at Lismore in March 2017. The 2013 Getaway gelding was sold shortly afterwards to John Hales for £260,000 but, having won just a novice handicap chase in nine starts for Paul Nicholls, the bay was sent to this year’s Spring Sale in Doncaster where Robinson bought him for £21,000.

The Highflyer Bloodstock PPORA club members novice riders’ conditions race was divided. Honours in the first half went to the nine-year-old Tikkanen gelding Trojan Star, who was ridden by Kyran Tompkins for Simon Gilmore, while Albi Tufnell landed division two on board the Sally Randell-trained Call Me Vic, a 12-year-old Old Vic gelding.