MANY congratulations to former show jumper Josh Halford who partnered his first Grade 1 winner on the track last Wednesday week at Punchestown when landing the Race and Stay at Punchestown INH Flat Race on the Gordon Elliott-trained With Nolimit.

The five-year-old French-bred gelding, whose previous riders have included Josh Williamson and Harry Swan, landed the €100,000 bumper in the colours of Gigginstown House Stud by one and three-parts of a length. Halford, who last competed over coloured poles in June 2025, came in for the ride on the Bande bay due to an injury picked up by the gelding’s intended partner Barry O’Neill.

On the same afternoon, leading amateur show jumper Jody Townend landed the Weatherbys GSB EBF Mares’ INH Flat Race (Grade 3) on the Willie Mullins-trained Even Tho who had won on her track debut at Limerick at the end of March. This was a 59th success of the campaign for Co Cork’s Townend who, on Saturday, was crowned champion lady rider for the sixth season in succession.

Stephen O’Connor, a joint-Master of the Ward Union Hunt, whose company The Underwriting Exchange was associated for 10 years with the senior show jumping teams, saw his colours carried to success in the concluding Stables Restaurant Naas INH Flat Race on Friday evening by Largy Star.

Trained by Gavin Crowell and ridden by Deckie Lavery, the seven-year-old Blue Bresil gelding, who finished third over hurdles on her previous start at Fairyhouse and second on her track debut at Naas in late January, won two of her three point-to-point starts when trained in Northern Ireland by Cormac Abernethy for his breeders, Largy Bloodstock.

As the meeting, and National Hunt season, concluded on Saturday, the Palmerstown House Estate Pat Taaffe Handicap Chase (Listed) was won by the Dermot McLaughlin-trained Barry Lyndon. The eight-year-old Imperial Monarch gelding landed the 21-runner race, in which there were just six finishers, by three and three-parts of a length in the hands of J.J. Slevin.

Barry Lyndon is owned by Fidelma Toole, who, as Fidelma McGivern partnered many successful show horses and point-to-pointers some years back, and was bred out of her Daylami mare Mna Na Heirean by Deirdre Connolly whose home-bred Irish Sport Horse mare OnceUponATime (by Barely A Moment) contested her first CCI4* recently at Ballindenisk where she was ridden by Sarah Ennis.