NEARLY 15 years ago, I wrote a piece for a booklet that accompanied The Irish Field 25th anniversary celebration of the annual point-to-point awards.

“Even if John Thomas McNamara does set a new career (riders) total target, this figure could be under threat from the young man taking his first title this year. Only 21 years of age Derek O’Connor notched his 100th winner in May of this year (2004)”

While I am delighted to have been proved right in my prescience, I still find it hard to take in the sheer magnitude of his achievements subsequently.

The turn of the year period always means that the Cork/Waterford area will feature strongly in my itinerary following an autumn spent largely in Leinster and Ulster.

My second visit to the southern region took me to Dromahane for the last meeting of 2018. Not surprisingly, Derek rode a winner there, which happened to be his 1,200th in point-to-points.

When I go down to Cork, I frequently travel with my great friend and the commentator for that region, Declan Phelan, and this trip was no exception.

SURPASSED

On the way home we, naturally, discussed Derek’s landmark achievement and agreed that it is a total which is unlikely to be surpassed, largely because we are unlikely to see again the sheer number of horses that fuelled the sport in the first 12 or so seasons of this century.

Of course the future is a great unknown and, who knows, point-to-points could yet become a year round sport with mid-week meetings making a return.

In our conversations Declan asked me to look at Derek’s record at Dromahane since he was well aware of his winning prowess there. So I did my research for him and it proved very interesting.

Derek did not ride at the Mallow area venue until the first autumn session in the ‘foot and mouth’ year of 2001.

At the October meeting there he rode his second career winner on the family-owned Tubber Streams and then, just over two weeks later, he scored again.

PROMISE

I was there that day and it was the first time that I really took note of this promising young rider, largely because he was riding an unproven maiden Kick For Touch for none other than the great Tom Costello.

Despite this auspicious beginning it was over 12 months before he reappeared at this course.

In the 2002/’03 season he only won once at the two meetings he attended but, following that, he began harvesting winners.

To date, by my calculations, he has ridden at 78 meetings there, winning a total of 143 races and only going home without a winner on seven of those occasions.

This means that he has ridden over 10% of his total winners at this one venue, his best haul being six on New Year’s Eve in 2008, while in 2012/’13 he scored here 16 times and this could have been more had he not chosen to ride elsewhere on the day of the track’s May meeting.

It is also interesting that it was in that season (2012-’13) he only won 70 races - due to injury interrupting his programme - though he was still champion rider.

Altogether, his record is remarkable, especially at this track, which he knows like the back of his hand. The winners are still accumulating and we could see his total reach 1,250 before the end of this season.

Weather adversely affecting British scene

WHILE our autumn session was notable for the un-winter-like ground and predominantly kind weather conditions, my British friends report less favourably on their pre-Christmas meetings.

Although not starting until late November, their season saw ground conditions firmer than over here and, consequently, the early meetings were cursed with few runners and bad weather.

One exception to the firm ground was the meeting of the Carmarthenshire which was scheduled for the first time at Ffos Las racecourse. This meeting had to be initially postponed due to wet conditions.

It was rescheduled for Saturday, December 22nd and went ahead with heavy going. One would imagine that date to be a financial and attendance kiss of death.

However, those who attended Kilworth point-to-point two years ago will remember that there was a large group from Chat Welsh hunt in enthusiastic attendance there on that day.

Led by the irrepressible Dai Jones, who once rode at Kinsale and is not unknown over here, they rallied support and got so much sponsorship that they had the most financially successful meeting for many years. It was especially satisfying for them. since this was the first meeting in their own hunt country since the late 1970s.

It shows that, where there is a will and an enthusiastic committee, near miracles can happen. Perhaps some of our own meetings which are finding it hard to make ends meet should take heart from this.

Shark was on the prowl at Barbury

ONE pre-Christmas British meeting that came after the initial drought of runners was the International Club meeting at Barbury Castle on the chalk downs near Swindon.

Scheduled this year on December 19th, having been run in January on both previous runnings, it was designed to be run on a weekend when there were no Irish meetings to facilitate things for potential Irish visitors.

Of course such things rarely go to plan and, with a postponed meeting at Boulta going ahead on the same day, only Shark Hanlon took runners to England.

Having been there for both the previous meetings, he was well aware of what was required and returned with two winners to add to the one he had two years ago.

Last year there was also a winner for Eugene O’Sullivan and both stables have successfully sold horses as a result of their attendance at this meeting; perhaps other handlers might be persuaded to follow suit.

Both the Hanlon winners reappeared over here on January 13th. Woodbrook Boy, who won over two and a half miles at Barbury, reappeared at Tinahely and ran out a convincing victor in the winners of one race.

Having had to pull out all the stops to prevail in England, it may be that the stiffer track and longer trip played to his strengths.

However, under Tom Hamilton’s guidance, he put in a performance much more to his trainer’s expectations and now is a more saleable proposition.

FIRST WINNER

Somewhat surprisingly, this was Tom’s first Irish point-to-point winner. Now in his third year riding on the Irish scene, it has been a long wait. For someone who has ridden so many winners in his native area - the Scottish Border country - as well as having got round three times in the Aintree Foxhunters, it must have felt that he was getting a monkey off his back. For Woodbrook Boy, he now enters the record books as, to the best of my knowledge, he is the first horse to win an Irish point-to-point in the same season as he has previously won one in Britain since World War II.

Prior to that, particularly before Irish independence, military personnel used to travel across the Irish Sea with their horses and there were no racing rules to be circumvented to allow their participation in hunt racing.

The only other horse to have won over here after running in British points in the same season was Rising Sovereign, winner of an open at Kinsale in 1990.

However, though second in opens that year, this British visitor did not manage another win that season.

On the same day on which Woodbrook Boy ran at Tinahely, Shark Hanlon’s Be One appeared at Aghabullogue. Although he failed to double up, he finished a respectable third and now probably also claims a place in the record books, as I doubt any other horse has run in a winners of one after winning a bumper. Since previously all other bumpers have been run on racecourses, such winners would be ineligible.

It is of course possible that a bumper winner could have been disqualified, or a race declared void, but such a scenario is extremely unlikely. For all this, it adds more interest to those of us always looking for a new angle to spice up the season.