A SUCCESSFUL five days at Punchestown for Irish point-to-point graduates, has in part contributed to the month of April matching last year’s total of 146 winners, in what has been another recording breaking season on the track for the sports graduates.

Twelve races in total, including two Grade 1 prizes, fell to former Irish point-to-pointers, with Minella Indo completing the Cheltenham-Punchestown double in the Irish Daily Mirror Novice Hurdle, whilst Colreevy won the Racing Post App Champion INH Flat race.

QUALITY

The success of the latter was a further glowing advertisement for the calibre of mares that are currently emerging from point-to-points at present, given that the Lemonfield race which she had made her debut in two years ago, has turned out to be a truly vintage contest.

Running for Pat Doyle at the time, the daughter of Flemensfirth came down at the final fence whilst sitting in second position, and she is now one of four mares from that four-year-old mares’ maiden to have subsequently achieved blacktype on the track, with last week’s Grade 1 success coming a year after she had also won a Grade 3 bumper at the 2018 Punchestown Festival.

The Lemonfield maiden was ultimately won by Posh Trish who is now a six-time winner, including twice in listed company over hurdles for Paul Nicholls, after she had comfortably accounted for the now Grade 2 winner Getaway Katie Mai by 14 lengths.

The third-placed Ellie Mac is herself now a three-time winner that finished third in a Grade 2 at Thurles in January.

SUCESSFUL MARES

That Grade 1 victory of Colreevy also came in the week that three mares with recent point-to-point form realised six-figure sums at the Goffs Punchestown sale.

Top of the trio was Brian Jordan’s Noreen Bawn, who had a price tag of €220,000 after being bought by Gerry Hogan on behalf of Barry Connell, Donal Hassett’s Southern Girl fetched €155,000 following her Quakerstown success, whilst Denis Murphy’s Rathcannon winner Pure Bliss, was bought by Harry Fry for €100,000.

The ever-growing success that is being achieved by point-to-point mares, has continued hand-in-hand with the overall trend for point-to-point graduates as a whole this season.

As of the end of last week, 1,094 races had been won this season by former Irish pointers. But what is most notable within that figure is that this season has produced the two must successful individual months of all time, for the number of winners achieved by the sports graduates.

In December, 198 races were by horses that had started their career point-to-pointing in Ireland, which had bettered the total of 180 winners from December 2017.

That previous best was then bettered once again in March, when 182 races were won by point-to-point graduates making it the second most successful individual month.

To highlight just how notable a figure that it is, the combined total of those two months from this season, almost matches the season long total from the full eight months of the 2004/2005 season when records on the number of track winners were first recorded.

Increased opportunities for mares

LONGHOUSE Music created history at the weekend when she reached double figures with a 10th success of the season, following back-to-back victories on consecutive days at opposite ends of the country.

Her record breaking success came at Dromahane when she got the better of Empresario, the only horse that lined up against her in both races, as 24 hours earlier she had won a walk over at Broughshane.

It is disappointing that yet another race this season has produced a walkover following the same outcome in the older maiden at Bellurgan Park last month.

However, we are nowhere near the situation in English point-to-points, where a recent six-race card produced just nine runners in total, including no fewer than four races that were all won in walkovers.

The numbers lining out in mares open races of late is certainly concerning.

Longhouse Music was the only horse to stand her ground at Broughshane from the original five entries, with last month’s similar race at Stradbally producing just two runners from an entry of six horses.

OPPORTUNITIES

In total, 12 mares open races were scheduled for this season, and whilst two were lost to cancellations, that represented a doubling in the number of such races within the last five years, providing eligible horses with an increased number of opportunities.

On the evidence of the entry and runner numbers this season, the number of horses has not risen to match these increasing opportunities.

These small fields are disappointing for all involved, from the hunt committees and bookmakers, to the racegoers alike, so it is hoped that the numbers will pick up in order to persuade those hunt committees that currently support mares open races that they are worth continuing with.

The Stradbally and Broughshane races certainly do not bode well for the final two mares open races of the current campaign.

These are set to take place on consecutive days on the final weekend of the season at Kinsale and Ballingarry, and is this planning which does not help the current situation.