ARMAGH native Brian Hughes broke through the 150-win barrier for the first time following a four-timer at Carlisle on Monday and now has his sights set on partnering 200 winners by season’s end.
Beating the 149-win record for a north of England-based jockey set by Jonjo O’Neill during the 1977-78 campaign, Hughes initiated his four-timer in the first division of the extended three-mile handicap chase on the Alison Hamilton-Skyhill.
This nine-year-old Gold Well gelding started his racing career with Colin McKeever at Loughanmore from where he carried Wilson Dennison’s colours to five placings from eight starts in maidens between May 2017 and May 2018.
Hughes’s other three victories came on horses trained by Donald McCain who has supplied the jockey with 79 wins this season. That number includes The Big Jetaway who landed a two-mile, one-furlong handicap chase at Sedgefield on Wednesday.
Hughes may not have enjoyed as much success as he would have expected over the two days of the bet365 Scottish Festival Trials weekend at Musselburgh but did win the concluding handicap hurdle on Sunday with the Keith Dalgleish-trained I’m To Blame.
This nine-year-old Winged Love gelding was bred in Co Down by Jane Doran out of the unraced Swap Shop, a Lord Americo half-sister to the three-time Grade 1 winner Aran Concerto (by Zaffaran).
Yarr breeding success
Other northern-bred track winners in the period under review include the Joseph O’Brien-trained A Wave Of The Sea who won the two-mile, one-furlong Paddy Power “I’m Never Going Back To The Office” Handicap Chase at Leopardstown on Saturday.
This was an eighth success for the six-year-old Born To Sea gelding who was bred by Castlewellan veterinary surgeon John Yarr out of the Montjeu mare Je T’Adore, who is dam also of the dual winner Dark Voyager (by Raven’s Pass).
Between the flags, the Alexander McCrum-bred Wasini Island won the first division of the five-year-old geldings’ maiden at Ballinaboola, Co Wexford on Sunday for the Mark Scallan yard.
The chesnut son of Conduit, who was having his third start, is the first of just two recorded produce out of the Generous mare Emdale Ruby, the other being a 2021 Pillar Coral colt who was purchased for €5,800 by Matthew Hynds at Tattersalls Ireland’s National Hunt Sale last November.
The open at Belharbour on Sunday was won by the nine-year-old Saint Des Saints gelding Amaulino who is trained by Marshall Watson for his mother Claire.
The bay will next appear at the family’s local meeting in Farmacaffley where they love to have a winner.
On the flat, there were wins at Dundalk last Friday for the Lee Smyth-trained Adams Barbour in the opening five-furlong handicap and for the Patrick McKenna-trained Capla Knight in the concluding handicap over a mile.
Kessler enjoys dressage days
THOROUGHBREDS continue to make their mark in the dressage phase of the Bailey Horse Feeds flexi eventing series at The Meadows as last Saturday Sweetwall Eventing’s Lucca Stubington again won a section of the Intro (C) with the former Stuart Crawford-trained Kessler.
The ex-Dermot McLoughlin-trained Ballela In Milan finished second in Section B under Michael McGaffin while Sharon Madine placed fourth in Section D on Miguel Angel who won a maiden hurdle at Tramore in June 2016. The Enrique gelding raced just five times when in the care of Willie Mullins.
The series continues each Saturday until March 5th but today readers should also look out for the results of the famed Golden Button Challenge which is being over about three miles of the Ledbury Hunt country in Gloucestershire with a 12 noon start.
Among the many Irish taking part are Craigavon show horse producer Mark English, who is representing the South Tyrones on his “quality” hunter, and former professional jockey and amateur turned equine dentist Jason McKeown.
Determined
The latter has kindly been given a loan of Wilson Dennison’s Ardoyne for the Challenge and is determined that, whatever he does, he finishes in front of English. “I’m driving us over and if he beats me, I’ll leave him there!” said McKeown.
Ardoyne is a nine-year-old Doyen gelding who, under a variety of riders, pulled up in six of his eight point-to-point starts between May 2018 and May 2021.
The former Dennison-owned Birchdale, winner of a four-year-old Tyrella maiden on his only start for Colin McKeever in March 2018, landed the near two-and-three-quarter-mile handicap chase at Leopardstown on Sunday when, of course, the former Sarah O’Hare-owned Honeysuckle returned to rapturous applause following her third win in the Chanelle Pharma Irish Champion Hurdle, her 10th Grade 1 success and a record-breaking unbeaten run of 14 track victories.
New DAERA funding legislation
THERE is never any shortage of news from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, most of which I barely read, but the press release on Thursday needed scrutiny as it outlined “changes to legislation, allowing funding to be restored to Northern Ireland’s two horse racecourses.”
For detailed comment see page 5.