When Irish eyes are smiling …
(Pretty much all the time at the races these days)
He’s coming to America, and he’s excited.
Steeplechasing's unofficial Irish ambassador, Richard Pugh
is eager to spread the word (shhhh – we won’t tell him the secret’s already out)
that Irish pointers represent a huge pool of big, fast, talented steeplechasers with just the right amount of experience to jump right into sanctioned company, wherever they end up.
Sharing is caring -- Whether horses (lots of those), jockeys (most of them) or ideas, the Irish-American link is strong, and getting stronger.
By Betsy Burke Parker
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Half.
It doesn’t sound like much until you do the math, and consider the implications.
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Fully half of the horses nominated to nation’s richest jump race – next Saturday’s $450,000 grade 1 American Grand National – were born in Ireland.
Richard Pugh says there’s more they came from.
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With eight of the 16 nominees to American jump racing’s biggest prize foaled in Ireland, several of them direct graduates of the Irish point-to-point system, Irish Point-to-Point Services executive Richard Pugh wants American steeplechase horsemen to recognize Ireland’s circuit as something of a steeplechasing pre-school.
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Gordon Elliott-trained Jury Duty, the winner of the 2018 American Grand National, ran in two Irish point-to-points in his four-year-old year.
Tod Marks photo
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What’s the point (of a point-to-point)?
The match race of 1752 between Cornelius O'Callaghan and Edmund Blake is credited as being the first recorded race over jumps.
The steeple of St. John's Church in Buttevant was the starting point, and some four-and-a-half miles later over a course of natural obstacles and rolling foxhunting terrain, the finish was St. Mary's Church in Doneraile.
“Steeple-racing” later became steeplechasing, with the connected word, point-to-point, coming from literally racing from one point to another.
Then, as now, jump racing was tightly linked to foxhunting, with modern point-to-points mostly sponsored by hunt clubs as fundraisers as the hunt season draws to a close in the spring. In Ireland, point-to-point is a year-round sport; in America, point-to-points run in the spring, at the end of the hunt season.
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“Point-to-point racing in Ireland runs across a calendar year, beginning on the opening weekend of October, eight months until ... beginning of June,” Pugh outlines how it is that Irish pointers hit that sweet spot of experience, but not too many miles, to excel on the U.S. jump circuit.
It’s not that American-bred thoroughbreds are inferior, Pugh hastens to add, but that early training opportunities here don’t favor the kind of experience horses get in Ireland.
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Most Irish-breds are raised in big groups in enormous pastures, knee-deep in mineral-rich grass. They’re typically broken to saddle in the no-fuss manner that’s a hallmark of Irish horsemen. They’re usually sent to training yards with strings of 10, 20 – and more – sent out to jog, canter and gallop in company – and lots of it.
Horsemen have their pick of some 100 point-to-point fixtures with dozens of carded races every week, almost year-round, nearly guaranteed over good ground of centuries-old racecourses and carefully tended farm country. There are conditions to suit every level.
In short, Ireland’s point-to-point circuit is designed to advance the careers of future stars, no matter if they remain in Ireland, relocate to England, or if they come to America.
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On the National Steeplechase Association circuit in 2018, more than 45 percent of starters at the allowance level and up were foreign-bred – mostly born in Ireland.
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Three of the last eight Eclipse winners were Irish-born.
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Scorpiancer
(left,
Tod Marks
photo), still winning at the top level at 10 this year, received early education in Irish point-to-points before imported to Jack Fisher’s Maryland barn in 2015. Scorpiancer won the grade 1 Iroquois this spring, and he’s rated level – 154 – with 2018 Grand National winner Jury Duty for Saturday’s headliner. Still based in Ireland – trainer Gordon Elliott’s yard in County Meath, Jury Duty opened his racing account with two Irish point-to-points starts at 4 before winning his first National Hunt race at 5. Today, the 8-year-old has bankrolled almost $500,000.
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Two other Irish point-to-point graduates, Galway Kid and The Holy One are nominated for Far Hills’ new 4-year-old hurdle stake, and Pugh notes that several of the other Irish and English shippers for Far Hills were bred by or produced by Irish point-to-point trainers before sent to National Hunt trainers without recording a point-to-point start. Those don’t “register” on his
p2p.ie point-to-point record tracker, Pugh explains, but he’s eager to include them in the remarkable Irish point-to-point story.
“I look forward to exploring how the jump racing communities in Ireland and America can come together and share thoughts on the future,” Pugh says of his first American foray. “American steeplechasing may be smaller, but you’ve attracted a lot of our top horses, and a lot of our top young riders. There’s a ton of money on your circuit, and I want to see how you do it.
“We have a lot to share.”
Pugh is in the U.S. Oct. 14-20, a visit that will include drive-bys of America’s three steeplechase hubs – Middleburg, Virginia, Fair Hill, Maryland and Unionville, Pennsylvania. For Saturday’s races, he’ll hook up with the Irish contingent, Jury Duty’s trainer Gordon Elliott and a dozen others.
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Pugh knows racing from the bottom up, so he well knows the repeat will be tough, but he’s excited at the visitors’ team chances. As he puts it, there’s a 50-50 chance that an Irish horse will claim America’s top prize.
“That’s a remarkable statistic,” he says. “It is a winning model, our horses, your courses.”
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Pugh grew up hunting with the Sligo Harriers and Galway Blazers. He rode point-to-points from 16 to 19 before his weight pushed him to the sidelines.
“I was fortunate enough to ride a winner over the banks course in the Ladies Cup at the Punchestown Festival, and rode a double at Sligo my last day racing,” recalls Pugh, now 42.
He became a turf writer and race commentator, in 2003 creating an innovative database for Irish racing –
p2p.ie.
Compiling comprehensive racing form wasn’t new in Ireland or Britain any more than it was in America; what was new was to do it for point-to-points like it’s done for the National Hunt circuit (Britain’s National Steeplechase Association
equivalent) and
flat racing.
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Pugh co-founded Irish Point-to-Point Services Ltd, an innovative, interactive site recording point-to-point form for all starters in Ireland’s 100-plus point-to-points. As a side hustle, IPPS provides support services from entry taking, program printing, video replays, ratings, analysis and industry news.
Pugh is a member of the Irish Thoroughbred Breeders National Hunt Committee, Irish Thoroughbred Marketing Advisory Committee, Association of Irish Racehorse Owners and National Hunt programming committee.
He’s also become one of the nation’s most sought-after commentators, providing race call for RTÉ Television at the Punchestown Festival, Leopardstown, Irish Derby, 2000 and 1000 Guineas, Oaks, Leger, Dublin Racing Festival and Galway Festival, as well as announcing dozens of point-to-points throughout the season.
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In 2012, Pugh joined Tattersalls Ireland, in 2015 taking over their horses-in-training sale in Cheltenham, England. The Cheltenham Festival sale holds the record for the highest average price of any steeplechase sale in the world. The “training age” sale is populated largely by Irish pointers, and results are telling: Sales grads have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Arkle and Champion Bumper four times at the Cheltenham Festival, three English Grand Nationals, an Irish Grand National and a Scottish Grand National, as well as producing top American hurdlers Scorpiancer, Portrade and The Nephew
(pictured above, leading over the last fence in the Mason Houghland Timber Stakes at the Iroquios Races in 2016.
Tod Marks
photo).
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In America, the closest thing to p2p.ie is Virginia’s
Central Entry Office
. Like Irish Point-to-Point, CEO was born of necessity.
Some 15 years ago, a harried Fairfax Hunt subscriber who’d volunteered to take race entries struggled to keep everything straight – entry information, breeding, silks – for the race program printer, who needed correct details by noon on race-week Monday.
It was a daunting task that faced each of a dozen Virginia hunts at the time hosting spring point-to-points.
He wondered if there was a better, easier, more efficient way to do it, recalls CEO founder Will O’Keefe
(
Tod Marks
photo, above).
O’Keefe explains that before the 1990s, each hunt operated in a vacuum – painstakingly recording entry data; there was no information sharing.
A lifelong thoroughbred horseman and one-time director of historic Morven Park in Leesburg, O’Keefe took on the task of creating an online database for non-sanctioned racing.
It was an instant hit.
Like p2p.ie, the central office and website started out quite simple but, as a critical mass of information gelled, comprehensive past-performance history was produced for every horse, owner, trainer and rider taking part in any American point-to-point.
Records are solid back to the mid-1960s, with most NSA results to that time included as well as Maryland, Delaware Valley and some of the old Midwest Hunt Race Association point-to-point results listed.
Another eerie similarity between Pugh and O’Keefe – they’re both sought-after race-callers. O’Keefe announces at all the Virginia point-to-points, most Virginia sanctioned meets and a few in Maryland.
He wants to meet his Irish doppelganger. “I am definitely looking forward to picking his brain,” O’Keefe says. “Our size is dwarfed by what they do (in Ireland,) but there will be a lot to share.”
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While not necessarily inexpensive to purchase – publicly or privately, Irish point-to-pointers have trackable track records thanks to p2p.ie. What formerly was a shell game of taking Irish sellers at their word for point-to-point past performance, it can now not only be verified, but p2p.ie’s database includes expert analysis and video replays, which can be purchased through the otherwise free-to-use site.
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American hurdle standout, grade 1 winner Portrade
(
Tod Marks
photo), started his career in the Irish point-to-point ranks as did 2016 NSA timber champ Two’s Company.
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Pugh stresses that American ‘chasing isn’t the only place the Irish excel: Last March, almost a third of all Cheltenham Festival runners had started their careers in Irish point-to-points, and they won some 20 percent of the grade 1 races at the weekend meet.
He looks forward to exploring America’s steeplechase culture. “I want the comparables,” Pugh says. “I’d like to strike on the ideas that do work, there in the States, here in Ireland.”
He hastens to add that his visit isn’t a direct sales pitch. “It’s more of an ambassador mission,” he explains. “I want to see how you guys do it. We can all use some fresh ideas.
“I am fascinated to see National Hunt racing in another jurisdiction and follow the path of many of our equine and indeed human stars which have left our shores for the U.S.
“I believe that by meeting and engaging our counterparts in America, (both) jurisdictions have the potential to learn and grow from our respective experiences.”
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Want more?
Irish point-to-point’s Richard Pugh is coming to America this week, with special events and site visits planned in all three of the nation’s ‘chase centers. Pugh will visit some of Virginia’s training barns and racecourses Tuesday, Maryland’s Fair Hill Training Center Wednesday, and Pennsylvania’s training areas Thursday before heading to Far Hills, New Jersey to join the Irish contingent and trainer Gordon Elliott for Saturday’s Far Hills Races.
Contact TGSF President
Charlie Fenwick, Jr.
for details on meet-and-greet events planned for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
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Can’t we just all get along?
Richard Pugh developed the Anglo-Irish Challenge in 2013, a competition where teams of male and female riders from across Great Britain and Ireland were invited to the Tattersalls Point-to-Point in Ireland for a Britain-versus-Ireland team competition.
The event, renewed five times since at various courses in both countries, has proven beneficial in developing relationships between the British and Irish point-to-point communities.
Pugh says that “by bringing people together, more ideas will be developed and the sport will benefit from (information) sharing.”
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Pugh (center) in his riding days. Photo courtesy of Richard Pugh.
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Richard Pugh - The Bio
Age: 42
Family: Wife Jennifer (nee Kidd) was champion lady point-to-point rider and is now senior medical officer of the IHRB taking over from recently retired Adrian McGoldrick. Her family hosts the Loughbrickland Point-to-Point.
Sister-in-law, Jennifer's twin Jackie also rode successfully and is married to Russell Ferris, recently appointed CEO of Weatherbys.
Children: Two boys Christopher (5) and Conor (3)
Ponies: Aero and Cookie
Dog: Woody
Home: 15 minutes from Ireland's famed training grounds at the Curragh:
Grangeclare West
Kilmeage
Naas
County Kildare, Ireland
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Who’s who?
Point-to-Point racing in Ireland operates under the control and support of the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board and Horse Racing Ireland, as does racing at dedicated racetracks.
The IHRB and Irish National Hunt Steeplechase Committee are responsible for regulating point-to-points. The first framework for the sport was introduced in 1900.
INHSC behaves like NSA in the U.S., helping police the calendar in conjunction with hunt committees, and regulating the sport with course inspectors, stewards secretaries and a photo finish camera.
A veterinary assistant checks microchips much like an American racetrack horse identifier checks lip tattoos. All winners are blood tested by an on-course vet.
With support from the Irish government, Horse Racing Ireland underwrites point-to-point through direct payments to hunt committees with a €6,500 administration grant per fixture, plus €800 per race for the commercially valuable 4- and 5-year-old maidens, and €1,750 per race for all other races, largely carded for older horses.
HRI also funds the regulatory work of the IHRB, including the cost of supplying one qualified medical officer for each fixture.
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