Tubber trainer John Staunton broke new ground in his burgeoning career as a racehorse trainer when saddling his first winner on the racecourse as his Volcanic Rock landed a well-executed gamble at Cartmel in the UK last Saturday evening.
Staunton has been making everybody sit up and take notice of his prowess in the training ranks by sending out a steady stream of winners over the past few years on the point-to-point fields and this latest success came about after a shrewd piece of placing that yielded the perfect result at the Cumbria track. 
Volcanic Rock, backed from 7/1 in to 7/2 favourite at the off, was ridden by Staunton’s next-door neighbour Derek O’Connor and he was quite happy to settle the son of Shernazar well off the pace in the early stages of three-miles, two-furlong Intermediate Chase.
Heading towards the second last, Volcanic Rock had really moved into the picture and O’Connor oozed confidence as he pushed his mount clear after the final fence to beat fellow Irish raider Onthegoagain by eight lengths. 
A delighted Staunton, who looks after the successful 10-year-old for Craughwell, Galway owner Tom McNamara, revealed, “We really fancied this fellow to win this race. He had a cracking run when sixth behind L’Ami in the La Touche at Punchestown and that really turned him on. He needs good ground and a trip to be seen at his best and that was vital.”
Regarding future plans for Volcanic Rock, Staunton, who has 15 horses in training at his impressive yard on the Clare/Galway border, explained, “I had him in again at Cartmel earlier this week but he pulled out a bit stiff so we said we’d give it a miss. I might even give him a spin back over hurdles to keep him sweet and there will be plenty of opportunities for him over the summer.” 
Fresh from his success aboard Volcanic Rock on Saturday evening, O’Connor was in action at last weekend’s sole point-to-point fixture at Inchydoney, County Cork on Sunday afternoon, where he rode the opening two winners.
Six-time champion O’Connor – soon to be seven-in-a-row – started the day off at the scenic West Cork venue in the best possible fashion when guiding the Brian Hassett-trained newcomer Paudi The Punter (4/1), to success in the opening four-year-old maiden.
Owned by his trainer’s brother, Paudi Hassett, who works in the head offices of betting firm Paddy Power in Dublin – hence the name – Paudi The Punter benefited from a typically cool O’Connor drive when moving through to lead two out en-route to an impressive 20-length victory over Sir Frog.
The winner, who looks to have a bright future, will now be prepared for a tilt at a bumper at next month’s Galway Festival.
Success number two of the afternoon for O’Connor was gained half an hour later when he guided 3/1 shot Survival to success in the five-year-old geldings’ maiden.
Survival, who carries the black and white colours of Michael Burke of the Pier Head Bar & Restaurant in Kinvara, went to the head of affairs two out and always had too much in the way of firepower for the eye-catching John Costello-trained runner-up On The Bridge, with two and a half lengths eventually separating the pair at the line.
A son of Moscow Society, Survival was providing his Gort handler Norman Lee with his first winner as a trainer and he too may now continue his career on the racetrack. Last Sunday’s double puts O’Connor on the 94-winner mark for the 2009/10 season, which draws to a close this coming bank holiday weekend.
He is currently level (on 44 winners each) with his namesake Mikey O’Connor in the battle for the Southern jockey’s crown  and while he has the Northern, Western and overall title in the bag, the Tubber pilot will be going all out to add the prize for the Southern region to his impressive haul.

Jockeys’ hurling challenge

Whatever the fate of Clare in their Munster Hurling Championship semi-final clash with Waterford in Thurles on Bank Holiday Monday, a bunch of well-prepared hurlers from the Banner County will heading to the nearby Holycross-Ballycahill GAA ground the following evening, where the annual Jockeys Challenge in aid of charity will throw-in at 7.30pm.
Having enjoyed home advantage for the past two seasons, the Western team have to travel this time round to take on their Eastern counterparts in what promises to a fun-filled evening that is sure to raise much-needed funds for the Injured Jockeys Fund. 
Jockeys from the Clare area taking part on Tuesday include Paul O’Neill, Colm Murray, Tommy Considine, Brian Hassett, Leonard Fawl and Ger Hannon, while Robbie Geoghegan, Tom Ryan and Alain Cawley will also be in the side.
Facing the Western team, who have held a number of challenge games in the build-up to Tuesday’s tie will be the likes of Davy Russell, Ken Whelan, John Cullen, Bon O’Neill and Roger Quinlan, to mention just a few.
The last two occasions these sides met, both games ended in a draw, so with the score currently standing at 1-1, the sides will be going all out for victory on this occasion.
This series has proven to be a great success since its introduction back in 2008, which is thanks in no small way to the hard work of organiser-in-chief, Newmarket-on-Fergus trainer Pat Lynch and his wife, Ida.
Further details are available from Pat or Ida on 061 368441.

St Nicholas Abbey for Epsom

Aidan O’Brien’s long-time ante-post favourite, St Nicholas Abbey, will not run in Saturday’s Investec Epsom Derby, having been ruled out on Tuesday morning with a muscle injury.
The news came as no great surprise to racing fans, given that the colt, who was favourite for the race all through the winter, had drifted to as high a 20/1 on Betfair at one point on Monday afternoon following the news that he had performed ‘disappointingly’ under Johnny Murtagh in a piece of work the previous Friday.
Allied to that reported display on the Ballydoyle gallops, the sustained gamble on what was previously seen as O’Brien’s second-string, Jan Vermeer, (backed through all rates into 7/4 favourite) suggested that Murtagh would switch to Jan Vermeer and that St Nicholas Abbey, a disappointing sixth behind Make in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket last month, would not run. 
While the withdrawal of St Nicholas Abbey is a body blow to those punters who backed last year’s impressive Racing Post Trophy winner ante-post for Saturday’s race, it still leaves O’Brien with a strong hand, given that he has Jan Vermeer, Midas Touch, Cape Blanco, Bright Horizon and At First Sight left in the race.
While the final line-up will not be unveiled until nearer the weekend, it now seems certain the Jan Vermeer will be the leading hope from the O’Brien camp on Saturday.
He does have an impressive enough profile, given that he made a winning return to action this season when sauntering to victory in the Gallinule Stakes at the Curragh last month.
There is also Midas Touch to consider and he did nothing wrong when scoring in the Derrrinstown Stud trial at Leopardstown. 
He could be just coming to hand at the right time. Incidentally, there are vibes that Kieren Fallon will be aboard one of the O’Brien runners on Saturday and if he were to link-up with Midas Touch that would be a significant factor.
Off the opposition, Bullet Train has done little wrong on the build-up to the race and Henry Cecil’s colt impressed when making all the running to land the Derby Trial at Lingfield four weeks ago.
Sir Michael Stoute’s Workforce has a chance on his best form while Frankie Dettori’s mount, Rewilding, must also enter calculations.