Route Hunt point to point horse races at Portrush

IHRB carried out a track inspection on Friday morning 24th March and gave the go ahead for racing on Saturday 25th.

By Friday afternoon the weather turned to heavy rain and this continued during Friday evening.

The decision had already been made to hire rubber mats for the entrance gate but the heavy rain meant that horse boxes and lorries had to be parked on the laneway.

A number of vehicles had to be sited in the field and this meant that the tractors were kept busy ensuring that any vehicles that got stuck were towed out.

Race 1 had 27 horses pre entered with five horses declared for racing on the day.

Race 2 had 23 pre entered with 11 racing, race 3 had 20 pre entered with 9 racing, race 4 had six pre entered with 3 racing, race 5 had 13 pre entered with seven racing and the final race had seven pre entered but only two horses raced on the day.

In the parade ring Mr Rex Humphries judged the best turned out horse in each race and the turnout prize money was sponsored by Eakin Brothers Ltd.

In race 1 Storming Nelson won the best turned out prize for groom Peter Flood.

In race 2 Neo King won the best turned out prize for groom Jansseen Hill.

In race 3 Tara Boe won the best turned out prize for groom Karen McNeilly.

In race 4 Saint D’Oroux won the best turned out prize for groom Amy Shannon.

In race 5 Forkhill won the best turned out prize for groom Jansseen Hill.

In race 6 Knocky won the best turned out prize for groom Jamie Quinn.

The wet weather conditions in the morning meant that after racing the jockeys and horses were rather muddy and the poor weather conditions keep a lot of people at home but for those who braved the elements there was a great days racing and the sun came out mid afternoon.

Results as follows:

Race 1 – Maiden race for four-year-old, sponsored By Dennison Commercials Ltd, first, Worldwide Fury, Monbeg Syndicate, Donnchadh Doyle, second, Tough Approach, Warren Ewing, Warren Ewing, third, Ballybrittas, Wilson Dennison, Colin S McKeever.

Race 2 – Maiden race for five-year-old geldings, sponsored by Tattersalls NH And O’Connor, Kennedy and Turtle, first, Neo King, Wilson Dennison, Colin S McKeever, second, Ildefeel Du Livet, Manda J Shaw, SRB Crawford, third, Kilkee Royal, Patrick Blake, Jamie Sloan.

Race 3 – Maiden race for five-year-old and upwards mares, sponsored by Macaulay Wray Solicitors and Philip Tweedie, first, Carrig Kate, Maurice Sheehy, Peter Croke, second, All Loved Up, P J McCrickard, Liam Lennon, third, The Gambler,

Neville Reid, Patrick Turley.

Race 4 – Open lightweight race, sponsored by Kellys, Portrush, first, Winged Leader, SJ Hegarty and Jennifer O’Kane, David Christie, second, Saint D’Oroux, Raymond Scullion and Martin McGrogan, SRB Crawford.

Race 5 – Maiden race for six-year-old and upwards gelding novice riders, sponsored by Doherty and Gray, first, River Box, John Mooney, Paul McAleese, second, Forkhill, Wilson Dennison, Colin S McKeever, third, The Hurdler, Karen McNeilly, Karen McNeilly.

Race 6 – Winners of two, sponsored by Royal Court Hotel, first, James Brown Kerr, Gerald Quinn, second, I see You Know, Kieran Mahon and Noel Keenan, David Christie.

It was great to see that four of the six winners were trained by local trainers and in fact 14 of the 16 horses placed on the day were again trained by local Northern Ireland trainers.

The hunt thank all those who entered and ran at Portrush and wish the jockeys, owners and trainers success for the rest of the 2022/ 2023 season.

The Route Hunt is indebted to the race and fence sponsors, to those who advertise in the race card and Horse Racing Ireland for their grant towards the running of the point to point.

The hunt wishes to thank Mr Ian McMaw for the use of his land to run the event, the hunt members for all their help and all the volunteers who help on the day. Without this help the event could not take place.

Thanks also goes to the farmers and landowners over whose lands we hunt for their kindness and cooperation throughout the season.

Portrush autumn point to point is due to take place in October 2023 when hopefully the weather will be more favourable.

Anyone interested in helping at the event or in sponsorship of the event should contact Hazel Kelly the point to point secretary on 0775 956 3183.