GIVEN all that has been said and written about the brilliant ride he gave the Shirocco gelding, there is little we can do here but add our congratulations to Liam McKenna who recorded his first Cheltenham Festival success last Thursday week on the Tony Martin-trained Good Time Jonny.

While he probably knew his riding instructions from the moment he was booked for the ride in the competitive Pertemps Network Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap), the Co Tyrone jockey showed a huge amount of coolness and ‘bottle’ to carry them out to the letter. Commentators were full of praise for Liam as was Martin who gave the jockey his other big race win on Tudor City in the Guinness Galway Handicap Hurdle last July.

While Templepatrick’s Sam Ewing didn’t manage to partner a winner at the Festival he did ride two placed horses, coming in for an amazing spare in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup Chase on the third-placed Conflated. Gordon Elliott showed a lot of confidence in the young jockey by putting him up on the Gigginstown House Stud-owned nine-year-old.

Downpatrick-born Danny McMenamin had two unplaced rides at the Festival on the Wednesday but, plying his trade elsewhere later in the week had a winner at Hexham on the Thursday, at Doncaster on Friday and, over last weekend, at Newcastle on Saturday and at Carlisle on the Sunday. The reigning British champion National Hunt jockey, Brian Hughes, didn’t have a single ride at the Festival and only one winner in the period under review that also came at Carlisle last Sunday.

First double

Also from Downpatrick, Caoilin Quinn recorded his first career double on Tuesday at Plumpton where he landed the final two races on two horses trained by Andy Irvine who were both joint-favourites in their respective races. Caoilin had two other rides on the six-race card and they both finished second.

At home, Simon Torrens won the €35,400 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Novice Handicap Chase Final at Navan on Monday on the Robert Tyner-trained Better Times Ahead. This was a first win over fences on his sixth start for the six-year-old Walk In The Park gelding who was bred by owner J.P. McManus’s wife Noreen.

Sunday was a red letter day for Dromore’s Ronan McCrory as the 21-year-old partnered his first winner when Russian Diamond won the novice riders’ open at the North Kilkenny Foxhounds’ point-to-point in Ballyragget.

The nine-year-old Morozov gelding, who won a Connolly’s Red Mills Irish EBF Auction Maiden Hurdle at the 2019 Boxing Day fixture at Down Royal, is trained by Shark Hanlon with whom Ronan is based.

DOWN Royal racecourse has announced that soft drinks brand Britvic is set to return to the track as its exclusive soft drinks partner.

This renewed liaison will see Britvic Northern Ireland become the racecourse’s soft drinks partner throughout the 2023 racing calendar, with its iconic Club Mixers brand being the official sponsor of the May Day meeting on Monday, May 1st.

Naming rights for the fixture will be backed up by direct promotional and marketing support of the full Britvic brand portfolio including sponsorship of all seven race titles.

Kathryn Holland, Commercial Manager at Down Royal said: “We are pleased to once again partner with Britvic Northern Ireland as building relationships and working alongside local brands is something we strive towards and take much pride in.

“Working to create memorable experiences for our racegoers is our top priority, and partnering with a brand that shares this passion and works to encourage people to enjoy life’s everyday moments is incredible.”

Brian Greer, Marketing Manager, Club Mixers said: “We are thrilled to be continuing our relationship with Down Royal as its exclusive soft drinks partner and we’re looking forward to showcasing our fantastic range of products and their associated attributes of heritage, quality and reliability.

“We’re excited to once again be a part of providing racegoers with a little joy at each of Down Royal’s 13 fixtures this year, while encouraging them to explore our market leading brands as well as our expertly crafted Club Mixers range.”