WHEN writing on any sector in the equine industry it’s a positive sign when that sport threw up so many feel good moments and exciting events that it proves difficult in condensing them into the allotted space.

In 2019, we saw world-class performances on the track and major progress at organisational level in Irish harness racing. Despite huge efforts by the IHRA to entice horsemen to race early in the season, the local scene got off to a stuttering start. The April columns in this paper were buoyed by good news from America where Reclamation, still part owned by Donal Murphy (the main owner being Bill Donovan) and Robyn Camden, owned by Dubliner Jason O’Sullivan both ran up winning sequences. The latter mare continued her winning ways into ‘the fall’.