Under starters orders for Farmacaffley Point-to-Point

Racing has been held at this fantastic venue for well over a hundred years and a special thanks must go to the Leeman family for their kind permission on what is without doubt one of Ireland’s best point-to-point tracks.

First up is the four-year-old Maiden over two and a half miles, sponsored by WHR Accountants.

Last year was the first running of this race and it has transpired to be hugely successful, churning out future winners on the racecourse under rules on both sides of the Irish Sea.

Intense Approach, who won the race for handler Warren Ewing, also responsible for producing the superstar Constitution Hill, was sold at the Cheltenham Tattersalls Sale three weeks later where the auctioneer dropped the hammer at £210,000 to John McConnell.

Intense Approach has since won two bumpers for the County Meath trainer and holds two entries for this year’s Cheltenham Festival in the novice hurdle division.

One More Stroke, who was second in the race, has won a hurdle race for Donald McCain in England, whilst the third placed Lieutenant Mayne has won a bumper at Musselburgh, again bought by John McConnell after his Farmacaffley run.

The second race is the five-year-old Geldings Maiden race sponsored by McKinney Competitions and is always a hotly contested affair. This race has produced some fantastic horses over the past few years with many of them going on to win on the track for top trainers Gordon Elliott, Nigel Twiston Davies, Jamie Snowdon and Paul Nicholls.

Last year’s winner Cadoudal Saint was subsequently sold to Willie Mullins for £150,000 after his win, where he has run once for the Closutton team, narrowly beaten in a bumper.

Third placed Imperial Saint was sold privately to Philip Hobbs and has since won a maiden hurdle before finishing second at the Cheltenham December meeting in a novice hurdle.

The remaining four races, The Winner of One, sponsored by the Mullan family of Northern Building Supplies, The Gillespie Plate sponsored by WebsiteNI for five-year-old and Upward Mares Maiden, followed by the Leeman Chase sponsored by Armagh Construction Ltd Open Light Weight, concluding with the Ring Cup sponsored by Philip White Tyres for six-year-old and Upwards Geldings Maiden.

The Open Lightweight race is widely used by trainers as a prep-run for the Foxhunter Chases at both Cheltenham and Aintree for amateur riders. Most notably, last year’s Farmacaffley winner Winged Leader had been just touched off into second place at the Cheltenham Foxhunters the previous year by the Willie Mullins trained Billaway in a thrilling finish.

The track is in excellent condition and with the weather forecasting a dry day, together with six exciting races, all the ingredients are there to make it a fantastic day out for all the family. It is situated two miles outside Armagh city on the A29 Armagh/Keady Road.

Bar, food outlets, bookmakers, toilets, and free parking all available on the day. Admission is £10.