Christmas Special winner Bentraghhill (2/1)

A big thank you to owner Vincent Caldwell who passed on positive news regarding Bentraghhill before his Rules debut in the Christmas Special. The Scottish National winning patron commented on page 7 that the four year old is "working well and we are very excited to see him on the track." Contesting the concluding bumper on day three of Leopardstown's Christmas Festival, the former pointer was ridden by Jody Townend and, despite racing keenly for nearly a mile and a half, the Getaway gelding picked up strongly in the homestraight before pulling clear to win decisively by four and a quarter lengths. The Cheltenham Festival bumper is likely to be his target, although it remains to be seen whether he runs again beforehand. He was providing Willie Mullins with his first bumper winner in Ireland since October and his fourth success of the day.

Bentraghill's win rounded off a memorable afternoon for Declan Phelan's Irish Pointers article in One Jump Ahead. Earlier in the day, Lazare De Star (6/4) made short work of his rivals in the opening two and a half miles maiden hurdle at the Dublin track. Runner-up behind the well regarded Saint Baco on his hurdles bow at Navan earlier this month, the Robcour owned gelding had reportedly improved since and Jack Kennedy's mount never looked like being beaten jumping accurately before being pushed out to record a four and a quarter lengths win. He looks ready for a crack at Graded company with the Cheltenham Festival a realistic target later on. 

The other victory was provided by Kaka's Cousin (Evens) who made all on his Rules bow in the two miles three maiden hurdle at Catterick. Runner-up in one of his two Irish points when handled by Sean Doyle, the Mahler gelding was bought for £160,000 in December last year and given plenty of time to bed into his new surroundings at Jackdaws Castle. Reappearing following an absence of 386 days, he was strong in the market and given a positive ride by Jonjo O'Neill jnr. Staying on dourly after the last, the five year old looks a future three miles chaser and will have no trouble staying further. 

While the selections in the Top 40 Prospects have been poor - plus plenty of injuries - the other sections in OJA have unearthed some terrific young horses, especially the Irish Pointers. During the summer, I formulate a long shortlist of possible contenders for the Top 40 and they included the likes of Idaho Sun, Japetus, Mossy Fen Road, Tutti Quanti and Sober Glory. Instead, I tried to be clever and chose instead to select 'dark horses' from France, Ireland and the Flat and, at the moment, that decision has backfired in a major way. The other sections have hopefully made up for it with Declan's selections, plus the likes of Thistle Ask and Talk The Talk in the Stable Switchers article and some promising types hailing from across the English Channel. It has been frustrating nevertheless.

Finally, on a more positive note - those readers of One Jump Ahead will be aware I selected two horses antepost for the Grand National, one of which ran on Sunday. I thought it was an encouraging display, especially his finishing effort, and he looks ideal for Aintree in the spring.