LAST Sunday’s card at Turtulla featured the first maiden race of the season which is restricted solely to horses trained by handlers with a limited number of career winners.

Only handlers who have had 10 winners or fewer in either point-to-points or on the race track dating back to 1998 are eligible to enter horses for the race in a suggestion put forward to the authorities at the annual end-of-season review meeting in 2021.

From that suggestion, the Turtulla race was created in November 2021, with the initial edition being won by Garry Aherne’s Your Own Story.

The son of Shanataram was subsequently sold to Lucinda Russell for £85,000, and he has gone on to finish sixth in the Scottish National at Ayr on his most recent outing.

Eight rivals lined up in opposition to Your Own Story in that first running of the race in 2021.

However, disappointingly, the number of runners for this particular race has dropped in the subsequent two editions, culminating in just five runners taking to the track last Sunday. The inclement conditions may have detracted some from running, but even the entry of just 10 horses was a significant drop from the 21 that had entered for the initial edition in 2021.

Downward trend

That is a disappointing downward trend for a race that has boasted a bonus of €1,500 to the winning owner courtesy of the Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee.

The similar spring races which afford opportunities to this same pool of trainers have been better supported, with eight runners at Lingstown in March 2022 and 10 in Largy a month later, while earlier this year, the Lingstown field grew to 11, with nine horses having contested the race at Dromahane in April.

Perhaps a slight tweak of the conditions for the autumn race to open up the race to a greater number of handlers could bolster its fortunes and ensure that it is worthy of such an investment from within the coffers of the INHSC.

The pointing authorities were ahead of the game in introducing this race, with Horse Racing Ireland subsequently programming four maiden hurdles during the 2022/’23 season confined to trainers who have had 20 winners or fewer in the previous jumps season.

Taking inspiration from those conditions, introducing a cap on success that perhaps covered successes in the last three seasons may provide an opportunity to include handlers with more historical success but who have had fewer victories in recent times.

GIGGINSTOWN House Stud shocked the racing world in May 2019 when it was announced that the Westmeath outfit would be winding down its racing operation over an extended four or five-year period and would not be purchasing any more stores or young horses.

The racing operation of Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary has had a close association with point-to-pointing, not just as purchasers of the equine talent that the sector produces but also as a nursery ground in which to educate their own store purchases.

The latter approach can be credited with assisting in the process of bringing point-to-pointing to the position that it is in now, and while their familiar maroon and white silks have not been carried in a maiden point-to-point since Battle Of Actium won a four-year-old geldings’ maiden at Necarne for Colin Bowe in May 2019, last weekend’s inaugural Navan Racing Festival did highlight their triumphant return to investing in promising pointers of late.

Point-to-point purchases

The Gigginstown House Stud team enjoyed success in three of the weekend’s novice events at the Meath venue, all with purchases from point-to-pointing here.

Stellar Story kickstarted the successes when following up two wins in bumpers with a victorious hurdling debut in the 2m 4f maiden hurdle, with the son of Shantou a purchase from Donnchadh Doyle after the Monbeg Stables’ handler had sent the bay out to win his maiden point as a five-year-old at Castlelands last year.

What’s Up Darling added to their day one success when he won the Grade 3 For Auction Novice Hurdle, having been purchased after winning a Quakerstown five-year-old geldings’ maiden for John Costello 12 months earlier.

On Sunday, the Grade 3 Monksfield Novice Hurdle also went their way courtesy of Croke Park, a Dromahane four-year-old maiden last year for Denis Murphy, with this winning trio having cost just under £1million to illustrate their welcome investment in the sport.

LINGSTOWN plays host to the first banks race of the season tomorrow, and with the division bolstered by the addition of the banks course at Knockanard earlier this year, it is encouraging to see the race being as well supported as it has been.

A total of 16 entries have been received for the Neville Hotels-sponsored race; however, the turnout on the day could be affected by a disappointing clash with the Risk Of Thunder Chase at Punchestown which will take place just a matter of hours earlier.

Traditionally, that first banks race of the season at Punchestown is held on the weekend before Lingstown’s November fixture, with horses targeting the open at the Wexford venue often warming up for it in the Risk Of Thunder.

Disappointing clash

A reshuffle of the big pre-Christmas track fixtures has resulted in the Punchestown card taking place a week later in the calendar to produce this disappointing clash of banks races.

The Lingstown race has outperformed its Punchestown counterpart at the entry stage, but with Knockiel Synge, Lough Derg Spirit, The Bosses Oscar and Three By Two all holding entries in both races, the clash will likely hit one or both races tomorrow.

Unfortunately, the situation will be replicated again in the new year with Knockanard scheduled for February 18th, the same afternoon that the PP Hogan will take place in Punchestown.

With a relatively small pool of horses that specialise in the banks division, it is a shame for all parties involved that such clashes have arisen this season.

A STRONG pace left few hiding places in the four-year-old mares’ maiden at Turtulla, resulting in just two of the eight starters completing.

The time, which was 19 seconds quicker than the average on the card and some 14 seconds faster than the geldings’ equivalent in the age group, highlighted that.

It proved to be a test that held no qualms for Star Walking (86+) as it allowed her to record an impressive 10-length victory, suggesting that she has a bright future ahead.

The Colin Bowe stable added the four-year-old geldings’ maiden at Quakerstown to their weekend haul with Country Park (94+).

Another newcomer, he had to overcome a mistake at the final fence to overhaul fellow first timer Maximum Offers in the dying strides.

This course has a strong tradition of producing smart track horses, and this race will likely produce more than its fair share of subsequent track winners.

The four-year-old maiden at Tinahely was divided with Kish Bank (93+) in a league of his own in the much more strongly-run of the two divisions.

Speed was more of a premium in the following division, and here Hawthorn Street (93+) had the superior speed to win a tactical race and already frank the form of last month’s Teeshan maiden in Loughanmore.