MY Easter weekend ended with a trip to Loughanmore on the Tuesday for the second day of their two-day meeting.

At one time Easter Monday was rotated between a number of Northern hunts but in recent years the East Antrims have made the date very much their own and the level of public support they receive amply shows this to be a correct decision.

While fields were on the small side in all of Tuesday’s races bar the last, there was still very competitive racing and the crowd did not feel short changed. Of course a warm, sunny day makes everyone happy and it is easy to put niggles aside.

I travelled up with friends who had a runner and this meeting was to be the final stepping stone in its preparation for the Bishopscourt Cup at Punchestown. People from outside the farming community of Co Kildare probably do not appreciate how much local rivalry this race engenders. For quite a while now people have been speculating as to who will have a runner and how those horses with already obvious credentials will compare one to another.

My ancient Racing Calendars results from the 1890s show that this race has always had a history of local rivalry, frequently with skullduggery and fraudulent practice thrown in, as indicated by the frequency and grounds for objections. This race is very much part of Punchestown’s history and I hope the ‘modernisers’ will realise this and let it continue.