O'Connor on course at Loughbrickland

O'Connor on course at Loughbrickland

FOR the hundreds who turned up at Kidd Farm to watch the County Down Staghounds opening point-to-point meeting of the season it was very much in keeping with the story of the season so far.

Derek O' Connor reminded everyone of just why he is to the amateur game what Tony McCoy is to the professionals as he posted a treble on the afternoon and indeed was unlucky not to have ridden a five timer.

The Loughbrickland course, set in a natural amphitheatre, proved a challenging stage as the heavy downpour just before the first left one of the fences unusable but officially the ground was riding as soft. However this didn't steer the punters towards the 'mud horses' as the better quality animals were generally backed into favouritism which was the case in the first race when O'Connor opened his account on the fancied Ballytober. Favourite when falling at the last a fortnight ago at Poyntzpass, the four year old easily disposed of its rivals along with its maiden tag, hacking up with ease by a snug three lengths.

Race two was divided and in the First Division Clausen the grey was leading prominently under O'Connor but he inexplicably started to tail off during the final circuit to the dismay of favourite backers.

However a canny O'Connor was using rope-a-dope tactics by getting some air into the horse given the long run in from the diverted fences and when two out he changed gear reeling in the whole field bar Barry O'Neill and Rocky Bender going down to a short head.

It was further proof of the Galway man's genius which was denied the win by mere split seconds but to take nothing away from O'Neill he also won Division Two of the race on Traffic Chaos. This proved to be an ironic name for the winner who steered clear of the traffic by tracking the leader Bonaparte's Retreat who himself retreated a few yards too soon to be pipped at the post.

The double boosted O'Neill's stock especially when we consider he beat off local trainer and rider Mayne Kidd and a juvenile from the yard of top trainer Michael Hourigan ,who was also in attendance.

Race three went to the irrepressible combination of O'Connor and Top Twig and all Derek needed to do was hang on to the sure things back and that he did. It was worth braving the elements and the entrance fee alone to watch the pair skip their fences to victory and it won't be long until Top Twig fills his maximum allotted victories for the season.

In race four Schindler's Rock gave Jamie Codd another tally on his seasonal total as he turned over the favourite Spiker the Biker to win by two lengths.

The fifth race gave local jockey Mark O'Hare a chance to impress his home fans and he seized the opportunity aboard Fast Gun who belongs to the North Down Hunt. He shot past his fellow county colleagues Newry based Jason McKeown and Holly Curran as well as O'Connor aboard the mud loving Kondraki, but Curran's mount Vincent Pipe eventually took second place boosting the form of Megatron in race six Division One as the horse finished second to Vincent Pipe at Poyntzpass.

Megatron duly obliged giving O'Connor his treble and in division two of race dix JA Jenkins won with Minnesota Leader.

Daylight was fading fast when all was over reminding everyone that Winter is just around the corner but it is a time of year which jump racing fans relish and if the wind wasn't enough to make the hairs on their necks stand up then the prospect of another two Loughbrickland fixtures later on in the calendar surely was.

Related topics: