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Quality on show for County Clare Easter Hunt meeting

Racing fans are in for a real treat this weekend, with a huge crowd expected to turn out for the annual County Clare Hunt Easter Sunday point-to-point, which takes place at Quakerstown, with a 2pm start time.
The meeting has gone from strength to strength in recent years and the fact that this year’s Cheltenham Bumper winner, Champagne Fever, won his maiden at the track 12 months ago, underlines the type of quality animal one is likely to see compete at the Boston course.
The first race on Sunday is a four-year-old maiden, which will be followed by a five-year-old geldings’ maiden. Half an hour later will see a five-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden taking place, with a winners-of-one contest next on the list. The penultimate event is a six-year-old and upwards geldings’ maiden, with an always competitive confined maiden bringing proceedings at the North Clare track to a close.
A huge entry has been received for the meeting and it looks odds on that at least two races will be divided. Trainers from all over the country have horses entered, with the likes of Robert Tyner, Liam Burke, Charlie Swan and Róisín Hickey all set to have runners.
Brian Hassett, John O’Neill, Paddy Hassett and John Brassil are just some of the local trainers who will be hoping to visit the winner’s enclosure, while regulars at the track such as Michael Hourigan, John Staunton and Martin Cullinane all know what it takes to succeed at the meeting.
Sadly, champion jockey Derek O’Connor will have to sit out the fixture this time round as he continues to recover from the broken leg he sustained earlier in the year but the good news is that Quin jockey Paul O’Neill, who dislocated his shoulder in a fall at Belclare four weeks ago, looks set to return to action. He will be joined by fellow locals, Niall Kelleher and James Conheady, while visiting jockeys John Thomas McNamara, James ‘Corky’ Carroll and Kevin Power will all be pushing hard for victory.
Looking ahead to Sunday’s meeting, County Clare Hunt secretary, Paul O’Neill, is confident the high-profile the fixture has enjoyed over the past few years will continue.
“We are really looking forward to a great meeting. The vibes we are receiving are hugely encouraging and the fact that there are 166 horses entered speaks for itself. We’ve had enquiries from the world of people and knowing that a Cheltenham Festival winner scored at the meeting last year has been a major boost to the track,” he said.
“The course has been well preserved over the past couple of months and there is a great covering of grass also, which should leave the going perfect. We will have plenty of stewards on duty on the approach roads and there will be ample car parking on site for everybody. We are hoping the good weather continues and we are encouraging families to come along and have a picnic while enjoying point-to-point racing at its best,” he said.
Meanwhile, Tubber trainer, Paurick O’Connor – who will also feature strongly at Quakerstown on Sunday – continued his recent good run when sending out 5-1 shot Supercede to land the open lightweight for Lady Riders at last Sunday’s Suir Vale Harriers meeting at Templemore.
Capably ridden by 20-year-old Áine O’Connor from Asekaton, Supercede skipped clear at the second last and kept going in tremendous fashion to beat the Liz Lalor-ridden Carheenlea by five lengths.
Supercede, who was giving his jockey her first win between the flags, is owned by the Long Strand Syndicate from the Tubber/Gort area and the successful son of Lahib will stay point-to-pointing for the foreseeable future.

 

Hourigan on the double at Limerick

Michael Hourigan has his team in good shape at the moment and the Patrickswell handler was on the mark at Limerick last Sunday, where he netted a 24-1 double courtesy of False Economy and Friendly Society.
Ruby Walsh did the steering aboard Hourigan’s first winner, False Economy, in the two-mile Riverfest May 5th Hurdle.
Content to sit and wait in the early stages, Walsh edged the 3-1 favourite closer to the leaders approaching the second last. Heading towards the final flight, False Economy was clearly going the best and once safely over he sailed clear to beat Sean O’Brien’s Wilde With Pleasure by three lengths.
Hourigan completed his brace in the concluding Martinstown Opportunity handicap chase with the Adrian Heskin-ridden Friendly Society.
Always in touch, the 5-1 shot tackled the front-running Uncle Tom Cobley at the final fence in this two-mile, three-furlong test before edging ahead on the run-in to beat that rival by a length and a quarter.
Hourigan’s fellow Limerick trainer, Charles Byrnes, was also in double form at the meeting and he paid his first visit of the afternoon to the winner’s enclosure when sending out Gigginstown House 7-1 shot Wolf Hall to land the opening Family Fun Day maiden hurdle.
A costly failure when an odds-on faller at Dromahane on his only point-to-point outing, Wolf Hall seemed to thrive on the better ground as he surged clear from before the final flight under Davy Russell to beat 66-1 outsider Moby Dick by a length and a half.
Robert Jones was on board the second leg of Brynes’ double, Johny’s Lantern, who sprung a 16-1 shock in the Follow Limerick on Twitter mares’ maiden hurdle.
This daughter of Moscow Society, who was having her first start for Byrnes having had two unsuccessful outings in bumpers for Willie Mullins, led into the home straight and displayed plenty of resolution when running on strongly in the closing stages to beat Sligo Publican by three-and-a-half lengths.
Ted Walsh appears to have a nice mare on his hands in Summer Star, who came from last to first to claim the Listed Kevin McManus Flat Race.
Successful over course and distance a fortnight earlier, Katie Walsh’s mount poked her head in front a furlong and a half down with the 5-2 favourite quickening up readily in the home straight to deny runner-up Lady Of Glencoe by two and a half lengths.

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