CHAMPION handler Colin Bowe is certainly looking to hit the ground running in the new season having made no fewer than 36 entries for this weekend’s opening fixtures. The Milestone Stables operator accounts for just under a quarter of all the entries at Oldcastle and Monksgrange, a financial contribution that will be welcomed by both hunt committees.

Robust opposition

After a season of bumper entries last year, this weekend’s entries fall in line with those typical of October fixtures in a more traditional season, with the average for the month in 2016, 2017 and 2018 standing at 76. Despite Bowe’s strength on the opening weekend there still remains a robust opposition with 46 other handlers having made entries and the early hunter certificate numbers point to a strong autumn term ahead.

At the start of the week 490 horses were already registered from a pool of over 100 different handlers. With the exception of last year’s bumper campaign, that figure is already ahead of the six seasons from 2014 which marks a very positive trend entering into the coming weeks. That is driven by 235 four-year-olds alone, with all 34 autumn fixtures featuring at least one four-year-old maiden, including Kildorrery, which host will host a first fixture in the pre-Christmas term on November 21st.

The track has previously hosted a four and five-year-old maiden, most recently in the late 1980s, but since then the maiden races at the track have been for horses aged five and older, producing the likes of Montys Pass and Scorpiancer.