THIS weekend marked the final opportunity for horses to qualify for the St. James’s Place Festival Hunter Chase at next month’s Cheltenham Festival, with entries for the blue riband hunter chase with entries revealed on Tuesday.

For those horses not qualifying through the hunter chase route, two open lightweight victories are required since October 2020 to meet the minimum conditions for entry into the race, with open races at each of this weekend’s four pointing venues offering these final opportunities to meet the criteria.

Runners from the David Christie stable have dominated the hunter chase scene on this side of the Irish Sea and consequently - courtesy of Vaucelet, Winged Leader and Ferns Lock - he has the top three horses listed in the ante-post market for the race.

Dominate

While Christie has ruled the last-named out of this year’s race in favour of a more gradual domestic campaign, the six-year-old was given and entry as horses trained on this side of the Irish Sea dominate the ante-post market for the race, with Billaway, Rocky’s Howya, Chris’s Dream, Dorking Cock, Good Bye Sam and It’s On The Line all being quoted at prices of 16/1 or shorter.

Other Irish entries include Brain Power, Mighty Stowaway and The Storyteller.

Last Saturday’s Walrus Hunters’ Chase at Haydock is one of the principal British-based contests in the division pre-Cheltenham and this year’s renewal was also graced by an Irish challenger with Colin McBratney’s Welsh Saint one of the eight runners.

The nine-year-old went over to Merseyside having chased home Chris’s Dream at Carrigarostig last month and his 19-length third behind the shortest-priced British Cheltenham contender Famous Clermont.

Like Winged Leader, Famous Clermont also started his career pointing here for Donnchadh Doyle, and Irish challengers for Cheltenham will have had their claims further enhanced for next month’s race with Famous Clermont’s trainer Chris Barber stating that he is likely to swerve Cheltenham in favour of the flat track of Aintree in April.

The Cheltenham picture will become clearer next week with the publication of entries but, given the strength of the current crop of Irish hunter chasers, it is surprising that more do not elect to contest races in Britain.

Last Saturday’s Walrus Hunters’ Chase boosted a prize fund of £15,000 (€17,000), significantly trumping the purses offered on these shores for similar open hunter chases at Down Royal and Thurles this season.

That same sum will be on offer in a hunter chase at Leicester on Tuesday which is open to horses with an Irish hunter certificate but it did not attract a runner from these shores.

NEXT month’s Tetratema Cup card at Gowran Park will have a slightly different look to it this year, as the point-to-point bumper, which had accompanied the historic hunter chase prize for decades, is to be replaced by a traditional bumper which will be run in its place.

At the beginning of the century the Tetratema Cup card was a traditionalist point-to-point day, echoing the Easter Monday card in Mallow, with four hunter chases including a handicap hunter chase on the card alongside the point-to-point bumper and two further races confined to qualified riders.

That programme has been lost from the Kilkenny venue over the years, with the point-to-point bumper the latest casualty.

The race had featured on HRI’s January to April provisional summary, but it has since been dropped with the publication of the race conditions for the March 11th card.

In truth, the race had been on borrowed time for a number of years. Recent renewals have seen the race depart significantly from what it had been established for.

Instead of offering their connections another outlet to showcase horses who had placed in a point-to-point, the race has been dominated by horses that had already been sold having won its maiden point-to-point before joining new connections.

Last year, it was the Oliver McKiernan-trained Kalanisi Star that prevailed three months after he had won his four-year-old maiden at Corbeagh House for Alan Ahern.

Much of the previous decade replicates that with Henry de Bromhead, Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott all winning renewals of the race. In all, seven of the last nine renewals there were won by horses that had already been sold to new connections since proving themselves in the point-to-point domain, and in reality it has served little purpose to pointing in recent years.

LISRONAGH attracted a sizeable entry of 131 horses for tomorrow’s card and those racegoers venturing to the Tipperary venue will have the opportunity to bid on a number of items that will be auctioned in between races.

The lots will include 100 small bales of straw, a 55kg lamb, five Friesian calves.

Also up for offer is a working team of four young people who will offer their services for one day to do amongst other things, ride out, gardening, tractor driving and painting.

Point-to-point ratings

ROB JAMES and Barry O’Neill served up a thrilling finish to the four-year-old maiden for racegoers at Oldtown last Saturday on what looked to be two above-average performers.

James’ own Jingko Blue (95+) dug deepest to account for Jersey Des Brosses by a length as the pair pulled some 12 lengths clear of their remaining nine rivals which can take some doing in one of these shorter two-mile-four-furlong maidens.

Walks Like The Man (90+) had been quite the eye-catcher on his debut at Ballinaboola and, although having to fend off plenty of challengers in a race that can produce a number of subsequent winners, he overcame quite a quick turnaround to win in good style.

The Bowe team looked unlucky not to collect the opening four-year-old mares’ maiden of the year as Tequila Talkin’ (83+) was in front when exiting at the last to leave the path clear for Doyen Magic (81+).

That was one of a number of jumping errors that Tequila Talkin’ had made but, if improving her jumping, she could develop into a smart sort.

Beltown Lake (93+) dug deep to win the five-year-old geldings’ maiden on the card in a race dominated from some way out by two horses capable of rising to a high level on the track.

At Nenagh, Mossy Fen Park (92+) stepped-up significantly on his debut to quicken off a steady gallop which was in contrast to the five-year-old maiden.

Beneficially Yours (93+) impressively kicked again off a strong tempo, while Golden De Coeur (91++) produced a significantly above-average performance by older maiden standards to win by 45 lengths.

Ben Solo (92+) was out of danger in Ballycrystal when his chief rival blundered at a crucial stage, whilst Focus Point (98+) backed-up his wide-margin maiden victory in impressive fashion and could be set for a rapid rise through the ranks.