LAST weekend was a busy one on the British point-to-point scene with seven meetings in total, just one of which, the re-scheduled Brocklesby fixture, was held on Saturday.

It was fortunate for Irish breeders that the meeting went ahead with six of the seven winners having been foaled in this country. The half-dozen included the 11-year-old Royal Applause gelding Monsieur Jourdain who kept up the good recent run of rider Will Easterby, who also trains the bay for his mother Sarah, when landing the mixed open. The lightly-raced eight-year-old Definite Article bay Demood got off the mark in the mares’ maiden under Tom McClorey while Sam Davies-Thomas partnered the five-year-old Mahler gelding Welsh’s Castle to land the open maiden where just two of the four starters finished on ground that had become sticky as the day progressed.

Five of the six winners at the Combined Services meeting at Larkhill on Sunday were Irish-bred including the eight-year-old Winged Love gelding Give Us Peace who claimed the two and a half mile maiden conditions’ race under Co Meath’s Martin McIntyre. Co Galway-born Tommie O’Brien won the concluding three-mile maiden on the Sophie Lacey-trained newcomer Sky Pirate, a British-bred four-old by Midnight Legend.

IRISH THOROUGHBREDS DELIVER

At the Curre & Llangiggy fixture in Howick, five of the eight winners were bred in Ireland including a trio trained by Jonathan Tudor to land the first three races, Stony Road (hunt members), Repeat Business (confined) and Desert Roe (division one of the restricted). All were ridden by Richard Patrick who, having recorded his first treble, went on to make it a four-timer when landing the second division of the open maiden on the British-bred Barney Rubble, an eight-year-old Medicean gelding.

On good to firm ground, only half of the six winners at Higham carried an IRE suffix, two of them forming legs of a quick double for trainer Andrew Pennock.

Under 16-year-old Seb Burnett Wells who was having his first ride, Abbey Lane won the PPORA club members’ race for novice riders while Scorpion Star took the following Subaru restricted contest.

Ridden by Joe Hill for his trainer father Alan, the American-bred Broken Eagle justified odds of 1/9 when scoring by 30 lengths in the four-runner men’s open.

There were seven races at the Sir W.W. Wynn’s meeting at Bangor-On-Dee racecourse, four of them going to Irish-breds including the Alex Edwards-ridden pair of Temple Grandin (mixed open) and the 2011 Beneficial mare Following Mama who won the four, five and six-year-old maiden over two and a half miles.

All but one of the six winners at the South East Hunts Club fixture in Charing were Irish-bred. The two maiden winners were the 2012 Dubai Destination gelding Captain Simon, who claimed the opening two and a half mile contest for four, five and six-year-olds under Jack Andrews, and the eight-year-old Tiger Hill gelding Surging Seas who won the concluding SHE Club members’ maiden in the hands of his trainer, Philip Hall.

There were riding doubles for both Matt Hampton and Will Biddick at Buckfastleigh where four of the seven winners were Irish-bred including Mr Jaggers who took the second division of the confined maiden for horses and geldings by one and a half lengths. The eight-year-old Flemensfirth gelding provided his rider, Charlie O’Shea with his first success from just seven rides.