SUCCESS breeds success is a phrase so commonly associated with sport and there is no more appropriate term to describe the transformation in the pointing world that has taken place in Wexford within the past five years. The success that the likes of Colin Bowe, Denis Murphy, the Doyle brothers and more have had with the buy-and-sell model in point-to-points, has encouraged a wave of new names into the sport.

James Doyle is one such new name to the scene in recent seasons, and like so many of his county-men, his impact has been immediate.

Two years after saddling his first runner, the 32-year-old recently accomplished an early goal when one of his pointing graduates achieved blacktype success on the track.

Maria’s Benefit, who won her four-year-old maiden at Dromahane in November 2016 for Doyle and owner Charlie Carter, has proved to be a revelation for Buckinghamshire-based trainer Stuart Edmunds. Little over a year after her maiden success, the daughter of Beneficial is now a five-time track winner, including four on the bounce over hurdles, a run which culminated in her most emphatic success to date, a 30-length defeat of fellow pointing graduate, If You Say Run, in a listed hurdle at Taunton.

“It was actually Colin Bowe that sent Charlie (Carter) to me as a pre-trainer, so it is Colin that I may thank for getting her. He was full at the time and I was only meant to be pre-training, but then she went on to dead-heat with one of Colin’s horses at Dromahane.

“She wasn’t a massive mare and her size probably just caught her out at the sales. Nick Brown and JD Moore followed her out afterwards and got talking to Charlie and they got a deal done.

“I thought a lot of her when she was here. They just didn’t go for her at the sales because of her size. She may not be big but she has a big heart and she has probably turned out to be a cheap mare.”

That listed success has certainly been the cherry on a short training career to date headlined by a notable 32% strike record last season from a string of 16 horses.

“We had a great strike rate last year. Sprintingforgold was brilliant for us and then of course we had Maria’s Benefit, Bitingthebullet, Getouthegate that all won four-year-olds for me. It was my first proper full season training so it was grand to get all the winners.”

Success for those trainers within the buy-and-sell market between the flags is measured not only with their own individual winners tally, but also the success that their graduates go on to achieve for their new owners in order to generate repeat business. This is something that Doyle is keenly aware of.

“It is only a small number of horses that I have produced in the last year or two but I like to follow how they are getting on for their new connections and it is great to see so many of them winning.

“More Than Luck has gone to Olly Murphy and he has won a couple for him and Molly The Dolly has won for Dan Skelton. From what I have sold they are all winning away, in fairness, and that is the aim of the game. It is grand for them to win for us, but what you want is for them to be winning for the new owners as it could open doors for the future.”

That philosophy was formulated from the early foundation that he gained with half-breds, an education that certainly did Sean and Donnchadh Doyle no ham, having also followed a similar route into the training ranks.

“I would have started off in the half-bred game with some ponies and cobs, then a bit of hunting and buying and selling. Having the experience from the half-breds is definitely a help. Everyone learns from their mistakes and to have started off with a cheaper horse you can learn your trade without it costing you big.

“I bought my first point-to-pointer when I was about 18 with a cousin of mine and we put her in training with Andy Pierce. Then I hooked up with Sean (Doyle). I would have known Sean through the half-breds and hunting. He started point-to-pointing and the next thing I had two or three with him and it progressed from that, the two or three quickly turned into six and then I went to work with Sean for a couple of years.

“I was starting to build up my own yard when I got a bad injury. A horse went over on me one morning and I broke four vertebrae in the bottom of my back, so that knocked me back for a year. I had broken my pelvis about two months before that too. I was clipping a horse one evening and got a kick that broke the pelvis. I think someone was trying to tell me something – don’t be getting up on horses, just keep my feet on the ground!

“When I got back on my feet, I just started tipping away with a couple of my own.”

Based five miles outside of Enniscorthy, close to fellow handler Mick Goff and Denis Murphy, Doyle has transformed the family farm once grazed by cattle and sheep, which is now home to his fast developing training establishment.

“I have put in a new barn with 19 stables, so we can carry about 40 horses. We are nearly full now because there would be 35 riding out at the minute. I have a three-furlong gallop and I put in a new two-and-a-half-furlong schooling strip so we’re going forward. For what started out small is after growing a bit!”

Infrastructure developments have been matched by an expanding team which now includes Harley Dunne, John O’Neill, Brendan Brooks and Rochelle Murphy, as Doyle admits: “I am blessed that I have great staff. There is only so much that one person can do. If you haven’t got the right staff you are wasting your time at this game.”

Spurred on by the successes of Maria’s Benefit, which sees her sit behind Apple’s Shakira in the ante-post market for the mares’ novice hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, Doyle’s hopes are high for the future.

“It is brilliant to have something like her to go forward to Cheltenham and fly the flag for the yard this early – that is what it is all about.”