THIS final weekend of the season sees four meetings being staged in the southern region where Ciaran Fennessy, on 21 wins, is two ahead of Derek O’Connor who failed to score on his return to action last Saturday.

Both Jamie Codd and Barry O’Neill recorded doubles at the Carbery Foxhounds’ meeting at Inchydoney and are lying third and fourth on 17 and 15 respectively. At national level, the gap between the pair widened in Tralee on Saturday where Codd landed a brace of winners and, going into today’s meeting at Kinsale, he is on 63 wins with O’Neill six behind on 57.

Not for the first time, it’s close to call in the ladies’ title race where Sheila Ahern on six wins is being challenged by Liz Lalor and Aileen O’Sullivan who are on five apiece. Ahern will be rueing the chance she lost to go further clear at Tralee when her mount, Forjoetheplumber, went down by a head to the Derek McGrath-partnered October Revolution in the nine-runner open.

Following his victory on Bere Haven in the novice riders’ older geldings’ maiden at that North Kerry Harriers’ fixture, John O’Connor now shares second place on the novice riders’ table with Eoin O’Sullivan, the pair being four wins adrift of the leading Chris O’Donovan (10).