JONNY Dunne was atypically expansive when contacted this week. He seemed relaxed having just come off a shift in the family haulage business. Dunne is one of the few Irish-born drivers to have raced at top grade tracks in America. The 2018 season started really well with the unbeaten Robyn Camden driven by Dunne and trained in the Porterstown yard by Clive Kavanagh.

Dunne thinks the team raced their horses for too long last year with the result that the form petered out a bit. As the spring weather kicks in, I can sense an optimism in Jonny’s comments. Brother Geoff and father Christy will not let ‘The Leaning Demon’ get a big head. Each of the Dunne horses this year has a ‘page’ i.e. the breeding more fit for Delaware than Dundalk. The stable even has an American owner. A US-based owner is becoming de rigeur at Portmarnock !

The Dunne yard is a lone bastion for the standardbred outside Kill, Co Kildare.

PORTERSTOWN CHRIS

8yo g (IRE)

Doonbeg – Miladys Pleasure

He’s my mum’s horse, and the family pet. I think he races best fresh so he’ll only get six or seven starts. We’ll aim for the opening night at Tir Prince. He has been some servant and has clocked 1.56 and a bit.

BENNY CAMDEN

5yo g (GB)

Pro Bono Best – Electric Art

I thought you’d be surprised that we have him. I bought him with my dad and Wayne McNevin. He’s had all sorts of issues but my father loves the challenge of a horse that has been written off. He is jogging away and I wouldn’t rule out Musselburgh.

OAKWOOD MAESTRO

3yo g (IRE)

Foreclosure – Only Gossip

He was growing quicker than he was learning last year. He raced well in the Breeders Crown even though he injured his pedal bone. He’s going nice and straight but it’s early days.

PORTERSTOWN ALED

2yo c (GB)

Doonbeg – Carousel

He’s named after ‘Doctor Aled’, that’s Aled Thomas, the pedigree buff on Welsh TV channel S4C. He’s from Aled’s uncle’s great broodmare, Carousel. We’ll leave him a colt this year, I think it puts a neck on them. He’s working in 2.45 so there’s a long way to go.

THE DONALD

2yo c (USA)

Thinking Out Loud – Knights Creation

He belongs to US bloodstock agent Brian Doyle. This colt is some character. He’s only 13.2 hands high. We had the hobbles on him the day after his plane landed. He’s a real natural. We might race him for Brian Doyle, but the same man could knock him down to a customer very quickly too.