THE Easter weekend is traditionally one of the busiest of the season, not just in the point-to-point fields, but also within the hunter chase division.

This afternoon’s race at Fairyhouse, which has a new name for 2023 as the Low.ie Hunters’ Chase, having been known for many years as the Joseph O’Reilly Memorial and latterly the Frank & Teresa O’Reilly Memorial, is followed by three hunter chases at Cork on Monday afternoon.

Today’s contest also kickstarts a busy run of 14 hunter chases over the coming weeks culminating at Listowel on the June Bank Holiday weekend.

Ironically, that is the same weekend that the sport’s authorities will not permit point-to-point fixtures to take place.

So with the point-to-point season set for an early conclusion this year on May 21st, it does create the odd situation of the final hunter chase taking place a fortnight after the point-to-point season itself has come to an end.

Hopefully the elongated 15-day gap will not lead to a reduced turnout for that particular race, as it is a race that has been won by the likes of Winged Leader and Stand Up And Fight in the past two years.

That total of 14 hunter chases between now and the June Bank Holiday weekend, encouragingly represents a slight increase on last year thanks to a welcome addition to the May calendar of a new open hunter chase in Downpatrick.

Longest hunter chase

Stayers will be to the fore in the new May 19th contest as it will become the longest hunter chase in the domestic calendar with the provisional summary stating that the race distance will be 29 furlongs.

The new race will form part of a hunter chase double header on that particular card as the fixture will also feature a maiden hunter chase, a race which had been run as a winners-of-one hunter chase in recent years.

The addition of an open hunter chase in the northern region in particular has to be welcomed, as despite both Downpatrick and Down Royal hosting a number of hunter chases each season, the annual December 26th hunter chase in Down Royal is the only open hunter chases staged in the region.

Strongest

Given that it would not be too hard a case to make suggesting that for this season in particular the region’s open lightweight races have consistently been the strongest, there would appear to be a strong cohort of locally-based open performers in the region to support the creation of the race.

The published prize fund of €17,500 is also very welcome in the context of the purses currently on offer for the top-end hunter chases here.

The Downpatrick executive have to be given particular credit, as in year one alone of this new open hunter chase, it already has become the joint second most valuable hunter chase in the calendar here alongside this afternoon’s race in Fairyhouse, and only beaten by the Punchestown champion hunters’ chase.

While the base level of prize money for hunter chases here usurps the equivalent races in Britain, in many instances, there is little difference between the prize money offered here between maiden and winners’ hunters’ chases when compared to the more prestigious open hunters’ chases, many of which are also run for the base value of €10,000.

With the Punchestown Champion Hunter Chase being worth €30,000, it still some way behind the Cheltenham and Aintree equivalents which both offer £50,000 (€57,000) in prize money.

A comparison of the six most valuable hunter chases between Britain and Ireland illustrates the gulf in prize money being award for the best of these races in the two jurisdictions, with the leading British races being run for a pool of money that is some 76% greater than the most valuable Irish contests.

Top six most valuable GB and IRE Hunter Chases



Figures sourced from PPRC Hunter Chase Planner and HRI Provisional Summary.

There are few cases within racing where Irish owners and trainers look enviously on at the prizes on offer across the Irish Sea, but disappointingly this is one of them.

With any luck, this initiative from Downpatrick might kickstart an effort from HRI to boost the prize money on offer for the better open hunters chases here.

Autumn winners fly the flag

THE autumn season is continuing to prove itself to be an ever-greater source of riches, with recent results on the track confirming that this season’s autumn term maintained the reputation of the pre-Christmas campaign.

Rock My Way has wasted no time in stealing the early limelight as the poster boy for the 2022 autumn season thus far.

A winner of the four-year-old maiden at Castletown-Geoghegan on the opening weekend of the season for Warren Ewing, flash forward just over four months and the Getaway gelding was already a Grade 2 winner over hurdles for new trainer Syd Hosie.

Fellow Antrim-based handler Colin McKeever won two four-year-old maiden races last autumn, and impressively both are already bumper winners having followed the same path down to Closutton and the champion trainer Willie Mullins. Ballyburn was a winner on home turf at Loughanmore in October and followed up with a bumper success at Punchestown in February, a performance which saw him earn a price of 7/1 for the Cheltenham champion bumper before connections elected to bypass a trip to Prestbury Park.

Stablemate Tullyhill was just as impressive on his first outing for Mullins in Gowran last month to back up his Moira victory on debut in October, while their bumper successes have also been supplemented by bumper wins for Umma House victor Down Memory Lane and Southoftheborder, the horse credited with supplying Derek O’Connor with his first success as a handler at Necarne.

That all bodes well for the other autumn four-year-old winners that are still to come.

Point-to-point Ratings

Castle looks type to progress Well

THE debut success of Trim Castle (93+) offered plenty of promise for the future, as the Well Chosen gelding has the physical model of a horse with plenty of scope to develop further, yet was still able to win going away at Castletown-Geoghegan.

Given all the rain the fall it was no surprise that many of the races on the card were steadily run, the four-year-old being the only exception, and as a result the race clocked a time 23 seconds quicker than any other on the card.

The Dromahane four-year-old also produced a time that was some way quicker than the following races on the card, and Waynes World (92x) looked particularly unfortunate in this.

Victory looked assured as he had yet to be asked for maximum effort when loosing his rider at the last. He does not look to be short of gears and should have the pace to drop back.

A change of gears was required in the four-year-old mares’ maiden at Rathcannon, as all seven runners were tightly grouped entering the straight, with Lady Jago (81+) producing the best turn of foot to win going away, whilst Rokathir (90+) paid a handsome compliment to his Kirkistown conqueror Jeriko Du Reponet as horses with previous experience came to the fore in the geldings equivalent.