THE honours were shared evenly between nine different drivers at Portmarnock last Sunday which included some impressive performances held before a sparse attendance. It was a day when forcing tactics paid off and stable companions, in a sense, Erin Flanagan and John Richardson both used the get-out-and-get-on tactic to good effect. Erin drove the thickset Tamalou Perrine, while John was on the typical pacer Kick Up The Dust.

Not many will know that Croke Park (then known as Jones’ Road) once hosted trotting. On Sunday the All Ireland really affected the local crowd attendance. The few die-hards that did venture out to Kinsealy tended to stay in the comfortable bar. The bookies were forlorn figures as the roars (for Dublin) and the gasps when Kerry were on the advance trickled out to the betting ring. Luckily Sam Maguire only impacts once a year and the next two months will see some of the best action of the year.