ALL six races at Trecoed last Saturday were won by Irish-bred horses with four of them being partnered by Bradley Gibbs.

Two of Gibbs’s winners at this Pembrokeshire meeting, the last of the season in Wales, were saddled by owner/trainer David Rees, the pair combining to win the 10-runner open maiden with the 2/1 favourite Persistantprincess. This six-year-old Scorpion mare was having her fifth start since March 24th during which time she was third once and second three times.

Persistantprincess was bred by Norah Ahern and is the first foal out of the Close Conflict mare Classy Conflict who was placed four times in point-to-points. Saturday’s winner ran twice for Denis Ahern, finishing second last time out at Dawstown in May 2017, before moving to Rees who ran her three times over hurdles last summer.

This second four-timer of the season for Gibbs put him onto the 27-win mark for the campaign.

Five of the seven winners at Garthorpe were bred in this country including Desert Retreat who won the seven-runner open maiden in the hands of James King. The seven-year-old Sandmason gelding, who was placed five times in 12 starts for Philip Hobbs, was winning on his eighth outing for his present trainer, Alan Hill.

SCOTTISH GRAND NATIONAL

Desert Retreat was bred by Paul Rothwell out of the unraced Carroll House mare Suny House whose own dam, Mulloch Brae, won five times and was an own-sister to Bigsun (National Hunt Chase, etc) and a half-sister to the dual Scottish Grand National winner Androma. This is also the family of Annacotty.

There were also five Irish-bred winners on the six-race card at Sunday’s Bicester with Whaddon Chase meeting in Edgcote. The quintet included the 10-year-old Gold Well gelding Gold Patrol who landed the conditions race under Glanworth native Shane Quinlan.

There were only four runners in the eight-year-old and upwards maiden but there was an exciting finish nonetheless with three-quarters and one and a quarter lengths separating the first three.

The winner, High Hopper, who was ridden by trainer Louise Bevin’s son Rory, is a 2010 Mountain High gelding who was first trained on the track by the late Malcolm Jefferson. The bay was bred by Tom Devereux out of the Glacial Storm mare Stormy Moment.

Byron Moorcroft recorded his 16th win of the season when landing the nine-runner Timico mixed open on the eight-year-old Arcadio gelding Ramble On.

There was also action on Sunday at Bratton Down in Devon where Irish-bred horses won four of the six races.

Another Co Cork-born rider, Bryan Carver from Kanturk, brought up a double in the concluding six-runner maiden when the Teresa Clark-trained Port Navas saw off the favourite, Redmond Hall (another with an IRE suffix), by half a length. The runner-up was ridden by Will Biddick at whose breaking and pre-training yard, Carver is based.

The winner, a seven-year-old Court Cave gelding, had finished third on two of his three previous starts this year, unseating his rider when the saddle slipped on the third occasion. Port Navas, who started his career with David Pipe), was bred by Noel Collins out of the Mandalus mare Mrs Quigley who comes from the family of Castle Warden.

Wexford’s Stefan Kirwan won the opening hunt race on board the French-bred Kapricorne.

WATERLOGGING

Originally scheduled for April, but postponed due to waterlogging, the Eggesford meeting took place at Upcott Cross, also in Devon, on Wednesday when four of the seven races were landed by Irish-bred horses.

Although he looks destined to lose the men’s leading rider title that he has held for the past six seasons, Will Biddick is not going down without a fight and partnered a treble at this fixture. Two of his winners were saddled by Teresa Clark, and the first of the three was for another female trainer, Camilla Scott.

BIDDICK

This three-timer took Biddick on to the 32-win mark, 11 behind the leader Alex Edwards, while Bryon Moorcroft recorded his 17th victory of the campaign when landing the four, five and six-year-old maiden over two and a half miles on the Kieran Price-trained Sweet Lady Jane.

A 2012 mare by Darsi, the bay finished third once in four outings here last season and was having her seventh start for Price on Sunday. Sweet Lady Jane was bred by Paddy Kinsella out of the hurdle winner Hurricane Jane. That 1992 Strong Gale mare is a half-sister to the blacktype performers Jennycomequick (by Furry Glen), Ettori Gatti (by Bustomi) and Clurican (by Dara Monarch).

While the Irish season concluded last Monday, there are two meetings in Britain this weekend with the Torrington Farmers’ fixture at Umberleigh in Devon bringing the curtain down on the campaign next Saturday, June 16th.