PORTMARNOCK on Sunday last was bathed in sunshine and there were some impressive performances in this, the 53rd year of racing at the venue.

The Mannings of Limerick have been staunch supporters of the venue for most of those years and the new generation, Ryan Manning scored a memorable win with LLwyns Delight. The Welsh-bred nine-year-old took down the highly regarded Fairdays Western driven by Jonny Cowden.

Other notable performances on the day included wins by Cartouche Jemiska who made light work of some decent trotters, and a facile win by Transparency after a luckless trip to Edinburgh.

Two pacing legs of the Irish Harness Racing Association All-Ireland Series were held and one of the trotting variety. Across all grades the pacer is usually about three seconds faster over a mile than a trotter. Trotters often need to be nursed out of the gate whereas a pacer can be chased on. The crowd love the tussle for ‘top’ (the lead) on the first turn and this is where many races are won and lost.

The attendance got their money’s worth in division two as Billy Roche on One Cool Touch really made Fairdays Western (Jonny Cowden) work for it.

Winning move

Eventually Fairdays Western saw the rail. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Ryan Manning on Llwyns Delight made a race-winning move as the field approached the half and although the northern raider came on again the Treaty County representative was not stopping. A speedy 1.58.5 flashed up on the infield timer.

Fairdays Western will be out for revenge next time, he is a gutsy sort and the result sets up a great summer of racing.

“I was hoping that One Cool Touch and Fairdays Western would slug it out, I made my move and it worked,” was the comment from Ryan Manning, who starts work in a flat yard in Kilkenny this week.

It is sobering to think your correspondent remembers Ryan’s great-grandfather Paddy driving in a race.

For the second week in a row, Billy Roche came in for the catch drive on Cartouche Jemiska for owner John Moloney. John sent word to The Irish Field that he is ‘a Limerick man based in Clare’.

The Trotteurs Français brought in by LeTROT are allocated by a good old-fashioned ballot and Moloney has certainly drawn a diamond in the shape of this mare.

Cartouche Jemiska and the Red Baron beat five rivals with contemptuous ease. Celui de Laye (Jonny Cowden) stayed on well for second in the trot division. Transparency has been lightly campaigned presumably to protect his handicap mark.

The six-year-old son of Share The Delight broke at Musselburgh. The hard track at Portmarnock probably felt more familiar and he landed long odds-on in a breath over 2.00.

Moorside Captain (Hopper Foran) brought up the chasing pack, but there was no second, with 10 lengths the margin for trainer/driver Alan Richardson.

In the minor events Halloway Road’s rehabilitation continued as he took the G and F grade trot. The win was the first by a home-grown trotter against horses imported with a bit of form.

Naul breeder Ger Kane has strong views on the need to promote the progeny foaled in Ireland and the big liver chesnut backs up his argument.

On the pacing front, IB Paddington (Foreclosure – Annies Lady) finally showed what he could do for the Baltimore team of trainer Tadhg and driver Donal Murphy. The four-year-old is part-owned by Bill Donovan of Florida. IB Paddington beat Oakwood Temptress and Jonathon Dunne.

Dunne made a quiet return to the circuit on the previous weekend. Supremely talented, he would bring more competition amongst the top drivers, if he gets the raw material.

Double

John Richardson keeps chipping away at Patrick Kane jnr’s lead at the top of The Irish Field drivers’ table. JR brought up a double on the day commencing with the chesnut mare Epopee du Layon and finishing up with the headstrong Dusty Jiel. Dusty Jiel made a prolonged break, but an official source confirmed that the count of galloping strides only begins at the actual start line.

Wayne McNevin is not a professional driver in the truest sense. He opted to drive his own Benny Camden in the first division of the All-Ireland Pace. The Rathcoole man gave the slick-gaited son of Pro Bono Best a cool drive reminiscent of Donal Murphy and deserves the plaudits.

A clock of 2.00.4 would make Benny third favourite for the decider if this was run tomorrow. However, as trainers, the Murphys play a long game.

It seems an anomaly that some grades on the card could be better filled, yet there were five qualifiers (non-betting trials) before the card proper.

Horsemen need to realise that the continuation of racing depends on proper eight-runner contests to keep the public and any betting chains interested.

For the record, the accomplished Oakwood Starcam signalled her wellbeing with a spin round in 2.01, while The Professor won two-year-old qualifier under Jonny Dunne. The two-year-old Immaculata looked more like a seasoned campaigner than a three-year-old trotter for John Richardson.