THE campaign in the Southern Region starts tomorrow with the Duhallow Foxhounds’ meeting in Dromahane where the first three maidens, for four-year-old mares, four-year-old geldings and five-year-old geldings, are all being sponsored by Doncaster Bloodstock Sales.

While Mary Hickey takes entries for meetings in the region, Veronica Walsh is secretary for the Duhallow fixtures and, after a couple of years in the position, says it all runs like clockwork. “To be fair,” she states, “Pat and Bets Coleman, who own the land at Dromahane, are great. They have everything ready for us and we just arrive in there to hold the meeting. They’ll also help out with declarations and any other jobs when needed.”

Veronica’s husband, trainer Eugene O’Sullivan, says there is a great covering of grass on the track and that this week’s rain should have left the going spot-on for tomorrow. He has made six entries, with two of four horses being doubly engaged. Three of the quartet are maidens, the odd one out being Pocket Reader who is one of six listed in the ladies’ open. The nine-year-old Sonus gelding is always ridden by his owner, Irene Walsh, who has won seven times on the bay.

Walsh also owns the nine-year-old Snurge gelding Drawn N Drank who won three opens and a hunters’ chase last season under the owner’s nephew Turlough O’Connor. The other two open horses in the O’Sullivan yard of roughly 20 pointers are newcomer to the sport Landmarque, a six-year-old Milan gelding who won a bumper at Catterick in February 2014 and was purchased by the trainer at Doncaster in early September, and Pauls Leg.

The latter has yet to win between the flags since his return to pointing, but put in some excellent performances last season when he finished either second or third in seven outings.

Rides on the 2006 Accordion gelding were then divided between O’Sullivan’s daughter Maxine (the 2013/14 champion lady rider) and son Eoin (who works during the week with J.T. McNamara) but this season the bay is due to be partnered by University of Limerick student Michael McCarthy.

US WINNER

Eugene and Eoin combined last Sunday to win the five-year-old geldings’ maiden at Loughrea with Leg Lock Luke, an Indian River gelding who was running for the third time, while the previous day, across the Atlantic, a former inmate of the Lombardstown yard, Scorpiancer, won the two and a half-mile Foxbrook Champion Hurdle at Far Hills, New Jersey.

The Scorpion bay landed a five-year-old geldings’ maiden for the father and son team at Kildorrery in February 2014 after which he was sold for £200,000 at Brightwells’ Cheltenham Festival sale. Scorpiancer, who won a maiden hurdle for Rebecca Curtis at Ludlow in January, placed fourth on his debut in the States early last month, winning a handicap hurdle three weeks later. He was bred at her Lough-Na-Sollis Stud in Tallow by Mary O’Connor out of the Silver Patriarch mare Janebailey.