Wyoming Line makes abig impression at Dromahane Reports, pages 2-3
‘These regional honours mean alot to the riders, their families and friends, and the battles will add acompetitive edge to the final weeks of the season’ Page 4
DONERAILEATDROMAHANE SUNDAY
THE JonathanFogarty-trained newcomer Wyoming Line bo ok ed his pa ss ag et o tomorrowevening’ssaleafter racingatPunchestown by making astylish winningdebut under Finian Maguire
TheDoctor Dino gelding alwaystook theeye in the Goffs Punchestown Sale four-yearold maiden. He hit thefront beforethe second-lastand was travellingbestatthe final fence beforecoming clearonthe run-in to beat TheBurrenMan by four lengths.Itwas the same distance to thethird-placed Splendid Fellow in arace dominated by newcomers WyomingLine, a€70,000 vendor buy-backatlastyear’s Derbysale,isthe firsthorse Fogartyhas trainedfor veterinarian Walter Connors
“We lovedhim when we saw him at theDerby sale last year andWalter then sent himto us,” MikeyFogarty, brother of the winninghandler,said.“His homeworkhas alwaysbeen good and he’ll nowbesold.”
TheTrixieBarry-trained BartlemyBoy,havinglandeda
Star performance
WyomingLine is thelatest promisingrecruittoopen hisaccountinthissphere whilesporting thefamous Walter Connorssilks
Liscarroll winners’race last month,continuedhis improvementbytakingthe Fitzgerald Familyopen restricted to nonGradedwinners
Thegiant seven-year-old, having hisfirst start in open grade,pickedupthe running under Alan O’Sullivan threeout and wasdrivenclear to beat longtime leader Champagne Courtbysix lengths
“He’sahorsewho’s improving the whole timeand thiswas just his third runofthe year,” Barry said. “Hecould go for the hunter chaseatTipperary next month and Ihopehe’ll be anice hunter chaser goingforwards.”
Nineteen-year-old Mark O’Flynn, from Glenville, hada never-to-be-forgotten day when ridinghis firstwinner on the JonathanSweeney-trained newcomer Ludovico Sforza in
the Hibernian Hotel and Da ir yg old Co-op old er geldings’maiden.
Theseven-year-old ledinthe dyingstrides to denyOhReally by aneckinthe coloursof Co un ty Li mer ic k- bas ed breeder John Fitzgerald
“Markrides outwith me every dayuntil lunchtime,” Sweeney said. “He’sa greathorseman and agood worker and comesfroma very nice family.I’m really thrilled for him.”
Theold firmofRobertTyner and DerekO’Connorjoinedup to land the first division of the Grange Stud five-year-old-andupwardsmares’maiden with newcomer FrankiesFortune.
Thewhite-facedhalf-sister to five-time British trackwinner GroveRoad stormedthrough to pickupthe runningatthe last beforedrawing clear to beat Down TheValleybythree and ahalf lengths.
“Fair playtoJason O’Reilyas he’s done alot of the work with this mare,”Tyner said. “She’s alwaysjumped well and done everythingverynicelyathome Shecould nowbesold.”
STONEHALLATBALLYSTEEN SATURDAY
Last mon th’s Be lc la re runner-up Somersby Roost overcame aslipped saddle in the closingstagesofthe second division of thisrace to beat the Tyner-O’Connor favourite One Day In Maybytwo and ahalf
lengths underJimmyO’Rourke, her handlerPat O’Rourke’sson
Therewas yetanother family successinthe Rathbarryand GlenviewStuds winners-ofone for novice riders when Headcorn,trained by Michael
Phillips,won under afine ride by his daughterHannah
Thepair toucheddownin frontoverthe last andcame cleartobeatSecond Subaltern by twolengths in the silks of Tessa Foreman, previously
TONI QUAIL movedclear, briefly, at the summit of the female riders’leaderboard when winningthe Woodlands HouseHotel Adarewinners-oftwoon Cosmic Blizzard, takingher tally to five.
Thepair hadsuccessfully combinedafortnightearlier at Stradbally buttheywereforced to digdeephereasRichard O’ Br ien’sSutto ns Hi ll, a maiden winner at Turtulla in 2022, proved apersistentrival.
CosmicBlizzardwas not to be denied, however, and his neck victoryput Quail (right) one winner clear of Pandora Briselden in the title race for 24 hours,beforeshe wasrejoined by her rival.
“The ground wasassoft as he’d want it today, as he’s seen to better effect on fastground,” handler SamCurlingsaid.
“He’ll go for awinners-ofthreeinthe nextfew weeks and on to Doncaster to be sold.”
Star performance
MidtownManhattan looks asharptypetofollowafter he posted an exhibition of jumping
TheQuail-Curlingcombination hadhopes of leavingwitha do ubl e, whe nT he Grea t Unknown,who hadbeaten the geldings in open companyat Quakerstown,attemptedto repeat the featsix days laterin the Davy Mann,PJDoreopen. However, it proved astep too far as she finishedsecond to the open debutant MagicSadler PatDoyle’s seven-year-old supplementedvictories at Bellharbourand Rathcannon with atwo-length victoryinthe hands of the season’sleading under-21 rider David Doyle
“I thoughtthe mare would beat him buthe’simproving,” said trainerDoyle.“We hada blip at Thurles butotherwise
he’s done things really well thisseason.”
Wexfordrider Jack Hendrick landeda double,launchedby regular ally CormacDoyle’s CoqNoir in d twoofthe G Punchestow Sale four-yearoldmaiden.
A€30,000 purchase at the sponsor’s Arkle sale,the French-bred sonofCokorik survived an er fo ur ou tt o fellowWexford raider PerfectReelbya neck Pierce Power’snewcomer
coming outofThe Beeches Stud and wasconsigned by White HorseStudatthe Derby Sale,” Power said.
“Michael Cullen isn’t well y’rebrilliant at ducingthese rses, so Ireally opehegets a k ic ko ut of that.”
Thereyarebysix and ahalf lengths
So me So ng co mp le ted Hendrick’s double in the Pegus HorseFeed, Dairygold, Sean Cahill Shanagolden five-yearold geldings’maiden, taking the rider’s tally this season to 24 “Hehad agreat startinlife
they
We xfor d tr ainers started theday tr on gl yb y nningthree of first four races rry O’Neilland Colin Bowecontinued their formwith Midtown Manhattan making awinning debutina division of the fouryear-old maiden
Bred by Cor aC ro ni n’s Brownstone Stud, the Order Of St George geldingwas never challenged throughout in beatingfellowfirst-timer
PaurickO’Connorisanother handler enjoyingagood run. Fresh from adoubleatQuakerstown,the Tubber trainer addedthe EnzosCafeLimerick five-year-old mares’ maiden with Viscountess Nelson Ridden by fellowGalwayman Eoin Mahon, the daughter of MountNelsonwas alength and ahalf too strongfor Belle Star Outlaw, denyingthe BoweO’Neillcombination adouble Enda Bolger saddledthe first of twoweekend winners when Stan Wellback made most of the runningunder RayBarron to land theTop Of TheTown Askeatonand Brendan Meskell Plumberolder maiden.
Th eE pa ulet te gel di ng inflicteda second defeat on the Jo hn Costello- tr ai ne d Diamond Hunter in aweek when that rivalhad alsolostby ahead at Quakerstown
carried to successbySam Curling’s dual TetretemaCup winner Aloneamongmillions
Th eMic kG off -tr aine d seasonal debutant El Bugsy, who traces to the family of Cyborgo, fulfilledthe promise
of lastyear’s Inchydoneythird by leadingfromfourout under Matt Gahaninthe Tattersalls
IrelandDerby Sale five-yearold geldings’maiden to beat dead-heatersNoble Runand Up To Trix by 13½ lengths
TRAINER-JOCKEYRob James wasincommandingformon the marathon nine-race card, which he dominated when ridingfourwinners, twoof which he trained.
Thefirsttwo were for his yard’s Matchmaker Syndicate and came in divisions of the Boardsmill Stud four-year-old mares’ maiden.
Princess Day (right) wasfirst to strike.The daughter of SuccessDays, who hadbeen purchased acrossthe road at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale for €37,000, came from off the pacetochallenge Fancy Hill at thelastbeforequickeningthree lengths clear on the run-in.
“I love this filly; Ithink she’s very good.She does everything rightand is toughand hardy,” James said.“She’sbyalovely up-and-comingsirewho I wouldn’t mind havinganother couple off.”
Stablemate Royale Navy had come off second-best when makingher debutatthe neighbouringTattersalls venuea fortnight earlier,but she showed the benefit of that effortbybeating BessieGrove by four lengths in the second division.
It waslongstandingally Do nnch adh Do yl ew ho supplied the 31-year-old rider with hisother twowinners
Star performance PrincessDay marked herself outasan above-average prospect when she wonthe opener
King Du Brivet landedthe first division of the Tattersalls Ireland MayP2P and Horses in Tr aini ng Sa le an dG ot u Trailersfive-year-old geldings’ maiden.
Twiceplacedfromfour ou tin gs ,t he T ri l Threat geldingh previously failedto string together twoconsistent performances, butthe Monbeg Syndicate-owned Fr ench-b re d, backeduphis lates thirdatBallyragg when be at in g G oo d Option by eightlengths in a career-besteffort.
down in gradetoclaim the MeathNHTrainers unplaced maiden.
TheGerman-bred Guiliani geldingwas four lengths too good for Aberfeldytoopenhis accountatthe fourth time of asking.
Aberfeldy’shandler and rider Luke Murphyhad earlier fared better in the second divisionofthe Goffs Punchestown four-year-old geldings’ maiden with Ballyfad
re gu la rr id er Pa ndor a Briselden alivebybouncing backfromadefeatatQuakerstown aweekearlier to winthe Captain SH Walford Memorial open for novice riders.
Thepair enjoyedtheir fourth successtogether when they beat thefront-runningmare Bestaline by sevenlengths
“Heshowed what we knew he wascapable of,” Jamessaid. “Hehad patchy formand was hard to getright buthis work hasalwaysbeengood and hop efully he ’ll ke ep improving.”
Stablemate Sioux Falls had als opreviously faile dto convert his favourite’s taginto awinningperformance,but he putthat rightwhen dropping
TheTirwanako gelding was ls to the foreand nv er te dt hat p ro min en t position into a winningdebut by be at in g fell ow fi rsttimer Seamoon S tor yb yf ou r ngths herewas an allWexfordclean sweepof the four-year-old maiden races when the opening division of that race went to SmokeTrail, the JetAwaygelding continuinga season to remember for JonathanFogarty.
Apromisingsixth on debut at Dromahane three weeks earlier,the baysealeda first easternregiontitle for Barry Stone when he beat LazareDe Star by alength and ahalf.
IMasked Du Potier kept the title hopes of his owner and
“He’ssuch aconsistent horse. He jumped so well today and wasjusttravellingreally well coming into the straight,” Briselden said of the PatDoyletrainedseven-year-old
“Hetakes his racingsowell buthehas hada longenough season. I’ll leave it up to Patto decide wherehegoesnext.”
Bestaline’s riderKevin Healy wasamongthe winners when the Kinnegadnativebrought his tallyfor the campaign to eightonAdrian Murray’s JurassicPet,who wasthe class ac ti nt he Crannog Roofing five-year-oldmares’ maiden.
Th er ew as as imilar ly decisivevictoryfor Salvador Lord inthe second division of the five-year-old geldings’ maiden.
TheJoeyDunne-ridden El Salvador geldingbrushedaside King Of Aces by sixlengths to giveEddie Powerhis second winnerofthe week afterthe victoryofPeppers Corner at Loughanmore.
SHANEO’ROURKE left Tullaherin, anew course for the KilkennyFoxhounds,with a double initiatedbylocally trained Double TheDance
Thepopular winner,trained in nearby Ferrybank by Ian Power, hadshown promiseon his debutatDromahane three weeks earlier before fallingat the second-last.
However, the €18,000 sonof Ma xi os ma de amends in battlingstyle in the Goffs Punchestown Sale four-yearold geldings’maiden. After beingheadedonthe run-in, he ralliedbravely to beatMaverick Mack by ashorthead.
“Hewas runningalovely race at Dromahaneonhis debutwhenhefell,”Power said.“He’s alovelyhorse and we we re happyw it hh im cominghere. That’s oursecond winner of the season and we don’t have toomanyin.”
TheFoulkmills rider haslong
performance
To You was the toastofconnections when justifying expectations on her debut
been associated with the We xfor dy ar do fV inn y Devereux,and tenyears on from his first winner for that team he hadone of his easiest when Deliverinstyle brought up his double by livinguptohis name in the Butcherolder geldings’maiden. Makingabelated debutat the ageofsix,the El Salvador gelding, ahomebred bayout of asistertoMrMantilla –who wonfive racesfor the same connections –dominated from thefront to winhard-held by a length and ahalf “Wewerehopinghe’ddothat and he did it well,”Devereux said. “Wewon’t be goingtothe sales with him,but if someone
comes along, we’ll sell him.If not,he’ll go fora winners’ race somewhere.”
Stay Hopeful didwellto open his accountinthe Chasefield Stables,Pre-trainingfiveyear-old geldings’maiden, as the Walk In TheParkgelding struggledtoget aclear passage up the home straight in a congested, butthrilling, finish in which arug could have coveredthe first four
Sixofthe 13 starters held leadingclaims jumpingthe second-lastand,despite havingtoweave apassage through rivals,Jamie Scallan’s cheekpiece-fittedmount held the fast-finishingRun Away Joe by aneck, with SweeperSystem another neck away thirdand AlwaysWantedfadinginto fourth alength away It wasa seventhwinner for first-season handlerEamonn Doyle from only 19 runners, a strike-rate of 37 percent. His
elder brother Sean wasalso amongthe winners when he saddledthe firstwinner at the new right-handedcourse. Doyle’s Cheers To You,a €38,000 buyout of ahalf-sister to tr iple Grade 1w inner Appreciate It,justifiedthe high expectations of connections on her debut. Shetookadvantage of firstrun over the rapidly closingEllie Mariebyalength to initiate Scallan’sdouble
“She’s alovely, big, galloping mare and we thoughta lotof her cominghere,”Doyle said.
“It’salovely, well laid-out, gallopingtrack. We areshort of abig gallopingtrack likeit, and hopefully we’ll be backherein the future.”
Lynsey Larue continueda strong dayfor Wexfordraiders
Shewas one of five winners from that county when she led ho me ao ne- tw of or her Duncormick-based handler John Walsh in the Capital Stud mares’ winners-of-one
Allbar oneofher five rivals hadalsolinedupinopposition in asimilar race at Durrow last month,and even though she could manage onlyseventh at the Offaly track, she overturned the form with several of those rivals under Troy Walshtobeat stablemateWhere’sCatoby twolengths
“I can’t rememberhavinga one-twobefore,”John Walsh
said.“Shewon likeagood mare at Umma Housebut we never gotabid for her when we broughther to Goresbridge. She’sfor sale butshe won’tbe goingtoa sale.”
Josh Halfordhas ridden six winnersunderrules butthe Kildarenative, whoisson of the Group1-winning trainerMick Halford, addeda firstinthe pointingspherewhen teaming up with the Enda Bolger-trained HoneyBeGood in theBoyd Auctioneers and Gowran Park five-year-old-and- upwards mares’ maiden.
An early casualty at Quakersto wn aw eek earlier,t he Harzand-sired six-year-old proved five lengths toogoodfor Mild Magic
“She’s awell-bred mare and gotalovely ride from Josh,” Bolger said.“He’swithGordon Elliott, butcomes down to me one dayaweek. It’s greattogive the young ladsachance.”
LASTSunday’sFairyhouse fixture wasthe final meetinginthe eastern area and we have anew regional champion rider in BarryStone.His single winner on the card made all the difference, seeinghim home by one(21-20) from RobJames
After Robhad wonboth divisions of the four-year-old mares’ maiden on runnersfromhis yard,the vital race wasthe firstdivision of the geldings’maiden in which Barry rode SmokeTrail forJonathan FogartytobeatRob on LazareDe Star,givinghim athree-winner lead. Robmadeitfourwinners on the day with the help of twofor Donnchadh Doyle, butitwasn’t enough
It wasfittingthat the Fogartyteam suppliedBarry with the decisive winner,since the stable hasbeenhis biggestcontributor,providingseven wins,includingabrilliant treble in all three four-year-old maidens on a LingstowncardinNovember. Gary Murphyhas suppliedhim with five wins and he’s hadplentyofsupport fromawide rangeoftrainers, mostly Wexford-based.
With 25 wins in all, Barryishaving his best season. Unfortunately for me,hehad awell-deserved first CheltenhamFestivalsuccessinthe KimMuir,ridingDaily Presentto beat Johnnywho.
Twoofthe regional titles look set to produce tightfinishes.Barry O’Neill, well on coursefor the overall title,leads Noel McParlanby17-15 in the north and is tiedwithJamie Scallan 11-eachinthe south,with DarraghAllen on ten and Alan O’Sullivan on eight.
Thesehonours mean alot to the riders, their families and friends,and the battles will add acompetitive edge to the final weeks of theseason.
Therace for the ladyriders’ title is goingtobeveryinteresting, nowthat PandoraBriselden’s victoryonthe PatDoyle-trainedIMaskDuPoitier at FairyhouseonSundayhas puther on equal terms with Toni Quail, who rode Cosmic Blizzardtowin for Sam Curling at Ballysteen.
Maxine O’Sullivan is onlyone behind the pair.Although she has hadfewer point-to-pointrides than usual this season, she canapproach the lastmonth of the season with confidence high after enjoyingrecent successesonthe trackonEyesOff
Annie forIan McCarthy in ahunter chaseatCork, andthe Tony MartintrainedRead ForReturn in a handicap chaseatFairyhouse. She’s not likely to be shortofammunition for the remainingfixtures.
Amongthe under-21s,David Doylehas theupper hand with afour-winner lead
‘With25 wins in all, Barryis having his best season.He had awell-deserved firstCheltenham Festival success in the KimMuir,riding DailyPresent to beat Johnnywho’
(12-8) over Kevin Healy. That’s abig gap for Kevin to closeinashort time, butwhatever happens the County Westmeath youngster canbeproud of what he’s achieved in his firstfull season.
He had0-13 last season, buthehas posted atally of 8-39 this season, and Iwas impressed when Itook a closer look at his statistics.Inaddition to his wins,hehas 14 first-four finishes, and only asinglefall. He hasalsomade his mark on thetrack, ridingthe Adrian Murray-trainedMilan Forthtohunter chasewins at Clonmel and Down Royal. He hadfiverides at Fairyhouseon Sundayand enjoyedacomfortable successfor the Murray yard on Jurassic Petina mares’ maiden. That means he wasbackwithinfourof Doyle, whowon on Magic Sadler for PatDoyle in theopenatBallysteen. Sundaywas abig dayfor two youngriders who celebrated their
firstpoint-to-pointwins.Michael O’Flynn did well to getLudovico Sforza up to winthe finale at Dromahane,withthe satisfaction of beatingahorseridden by Finny Maguire, one of the country’smost experiencedamateurs
At Tullaherin, Josh Halford, sonof recently retired trainer Mick, rode HoneyBeGood to winamares’ maiden for Enda Bolger in the coloursofTimmy Hyde.Josh is a talentedrider who competedat international levelinunder-age show jumpingcompetitions and hada spell in pony racingbeforestartingto ride in bumpers.It’sgreat to see a young person getting such varied experience in the saddle
Thesky is the limit for Midtown Manhattan
LastSaturdayand Sundayproduced another good bunchoffour-year-old winners. TheColin Bowe-trained MidtownManhattan seta high standardfor the weekend when winningthe first divisionofthe geldings’race at Ballysteen. TheOrder Of St George geldingis
outofClara Allen, trainedbyJohn Kiely to winabumperand four races on the Flat. Shewas atough stayer who finishedthirdina Leopardstown November Handicap and endedher career by finishing fourth in twoListedraces wonbythe brilliantYeats in the build-up to one of his Ascot Gold Cupwins
As well as winningthe mares’ maiden at Fairyhouse, Jonathan Fogartyintroducedapromising horse at Dromahane.WyomingLine, ason of Doctor Dino and the first horse he hastrainedfor well-known owner Walter Connors, wonwell fromThe Burren Man, aMaxios horse Irodefor Donnchadh Doyle in theMonbeg colours
TheDoylesstill left amarkonthe weekend action. Besides Donnchadh’s Fairyhousedouble, Cormacwon thesecond division at Ballysteenwiththe French-bred Coq Noir,and Sean saddledKingstonHill filly CheersToYou to landthe mares’ maiden at Tullaherin. She’sout of a half-sister to the talentedAppreciate It andshouldattract attention in the sales ring.
First-time-outwinneroftheGeorgeMernaghSalesBumper atFairyhouseforRobertTyner
First-time-outwinneratLisronaghforColinBowe
SMOKEHOUSE
First-time-outwinneratBelclareforAndySlattery
MAX’D
WinneratLoughanmoreonEasterMondayfor MatthewFlynnO’Connor
WinneratTullaherinonSundayforIanAndrewPower
First-time-outwinneratLarkhillforTomScudamore
Second Coolmore crop includes MANLAGA,winner ofthe Prix Auricula (won previouslybydual Grade 1winner KARGESE) and has since been purchased byJP McManusfor €400,000 to join NickyHenderson
Winner of a Grade 3 Chase on Scottish National Dayfor GavinCromwell
Winner ofa 5YO Maiden at Stradballythefollowing dayfor PiercePower
Sire of more Graded winners at the Cheltenham Festival than any other active GB & IRE sire bar WALK IN THE PARK & YEATS
Prix du Moulin-Gr.1 winner by MONSUN just like MAXIOS