THE Island Hunt will unveil a brand new track as part of a 73-strong fixture list for the spring 2024 term.

Peppards Castle is located close to the Wexford coastline north of Kilkmuckridge and is described as a stiff left-handed track with a one-mile circuit set across two fields.

It will be the latest venue for the Island Hunt who last month staged their autumn fixture in Ballycrystal and have run their spring fixture at the likes of Ballydarragh and Courtown in the past decade.

Dromahane once again hosts the first of the spring fixtures on Saturday, December 30th, and is followed by nine fixtures in the month of January.

February kickstarts the new four-year-old season with Ballinaboola and Bellharbour maintaining their position on the first Sunday of the month, where they are joined by Ballyvodock, a course which has not previously held a four-year-old maiden.

The Kildare Foxhounds fixture at Punchestown moves back later in the month, and switches to a Saturday to a create a double-header on February 24th with Farmacaffley.

With Easter falling on the final weekend of March, it becomes the busiest month of the season with a total of 20 fixtures scheduled, as the Easter fixtures begin at Ballyknock on Wednesday, March 27th, and this year includes Monksgrange on Easter Sunday.

The rulebook prevents point-to-point fixtures clashing with a race meeting holding National Hunt racing within a 40-mile radius, and there is just over 40 miles separating Monksgrange and Curraghmore which could be to the detriment of both fixtures.

The addition of Peppard’s Castle on Saturday April 13th brings the number of fixtures in the month of April to 17, and the month also includes the only remaining Sunday to feature four fixtures, as Ballysteen, Dromahane, Fairyhouse and Monksgrange all race on Sunday, April 28th.

Like last year, the season once again finishes with a double-header as Ballingarry and Inchydoney race on Sunday, May 26th, with Grennan an absentee from the 12 fixtures scheduled for the month of May.

LA FELINE could this afternoon begin her quest to become the first horse to win the champion mare title for a third consecutive season, as she is one of eight entries for the first mares’ open of the season at Lisronagh.

Still only an eight-year-old, the Sam Curling-trained daughter of Martaline has won a total of nine races across her two title-winning campaigns, including six last year, of which today’s Lisronagh contest was one of them.

Since being first awarded in 2008, the champion mare prize has only been claimed by the same horse on more than one occasion in three years, with Carrigeen Acebo, who is now the dam of a bumper winner earlier this year, and Maple Mons being joined in that exclusive trio last season by La Feline.

The mares’ open division has from time to time been light on genuine open-grade runners, with maidens and winners-level horses often boosting the struggling entry numbers.

Greater depth

This season could see a greater depth to the division and consequently present the reigning champion with a greater challenge, as a handful of track winners have already received their hunter certificates this season.

Maid On The Moon and Merry Poppins are two of them, with the former having joined Tom Keating from Alan King, while the ex-Robcour-owned Merry Poppins is now under the care of Derek O’Connor having joined him from trainer Donald McCain.

That pair have already got the better of geldings when finishing first and second at Umma House last month, albeit in one of the weaker races in what has been a very strong start to the season in the open division.

But the previous hurdle winners are likely to be contenders within the mares’ open category throughout the season, with Maid On The Moon among the potential opponents for La Feline this afternoon.

There are also a number of additional hurdle winners that are not entered for today’s first mares’ open race, but are waiting in the wings.

The 109-rated dual hurdle winner Sweet Street has a hunter certificate for Roger McGrath, while Ordered Lives and Little Token are two further track-winning mares that feature on the hunter certificate list.

They will all hopefully be among the entries for the mares’ open in Boulta later this month, which is the only other race in the mares’ open category currently programmed.

Point-to-point Ratings

THE open division continues to deliver high-rating performances this season with seven horses already achieving a performance rating in excess of 110, which includes both of last weekend’s winners.

Wowsham (118+) had already signalled that he could be a competitive prospect in this sphere when second to Jay Bee Why two weeks earlier in Portrush, and he took a further step forward in no uncertain terms at Moira last Saturday.

Breezing to the front before the home bend, the eight-year-old ultimately won as he pleased by 15 lengths from the recent Loughrea runner-up Ultimate Optimist.

Twenty-four hours later at Tattersalls and Fameaftertheglory (115+) may have looked somewhat up against it on paper with his 115 chase mark being significantly usurped by the likes of Screaming Colours and Ramillies.

However, the proven heavy ground performer appeared to relish the conditions and, although the final-fence blunder of Ramillies did result in an extended 13-length winning margin, it was a particularly eye-catching performance nonetheless.

Earlier on the card, Honky Tonk Highway (84+) and Diva Luna pulled some 25 lengths clear of their rivals in the four-year-old mares’ maiden.

Above-average

It was only from the last that the strong-staying victor came out on top of an extended battle between two potentially above-average individuals.

In the geldings’ equivalent, Saint Kristobal (92+) was always at the head of the field and although his main challenger cruised alongside him to the home bend, seemingly travelling the better, he proved himself to be a tough individual to win a shade snugly in the end.

The front pair look to have taken a big step forward from a combined three pulled-up efforts between them entering this.

The Moira four-year-old maiden was also won by a front-runner, as Handstands (92+) similarly faced a strong challenge into the straight, but there was no sign of his stride shortening as he won that battle before the last, with the pair again pulling clear.