Barry O’Neill enjoyed a memorable afternoon at Necarne on Saturday as not only did he register his milestone 900th point-to-point winner on these shores, but he later went on to defend his northern rider’s title at the conclusion of a tight three-way battle for championship honours.
The Wexford native had started the weekend in third position, two winners adrift of Stephen Connor, who led the standing with Noel McParlan sandwiched between the pair, and with all three having the back of leading stables in the region, it was perfectly poised to be a thrilling title fight across the two-day fixture.
O’Neill had the edge on Friday’s opening eight-race card, as he enjoyed a double, courtesy of winners for his brother Jim in the opening division of the four-year-old mares’ maiden aboard Tanga Mugi, before his long-standing ally in the region, David Christie, gave him the leg up to land a competitive winners-of-three aboard West Of Idaho.
That left the defending champion tied with Connor at the top of the standings going into what proved to be another eight-race card, with McParlan just one winner adrift of them.
The day two opener took a dramatic turn when O’Neill’s mount, Mon Missel, crashed out at the last whilst holding every chance, with Connor captialising aboard Stuart Crawford’s Ballywillin.
The Galway native went one clear, and then came within a length of doubling his title advantage when his mount, Divinator, came within a length of landing division one of the four-year-old geldings’ maiden, only to be outdone by Wexford raider Frompillartopost.
Two races later, O’Neill was back level when West Of Idaho, having been turned out for the second time in 24 hours, easily landed the adjacent winners’ contest, and 30 minutes later he was back in pole position.
Teaming up with Ian McCarthy’s Hearts And Spades, O’Neill secured his title honours with a fourth winner of the weekend, and whilst Connor did also finish second in the penultimate race, before Noel McParlan claimed the finale, after a marathon 16-race two-day fixture, it was a seventh northern title for O’Neill. This latest title success coming after his first in the region back in 2018.
To add to his spoils, the success of Hearts And Spades was a 900th point-to-point winner for the reigning champion.
He is just the third jockey to reach that pointing milestone, as he follows in the footsteps of both Derek O’Connor and Jamie Codd, who are the two other riders to have broken the 900-winner mark between the flags in Ireland.
