Image © Healy Racing
With the postponement of Ballinaboola, it was the County Clare Bellharbour fixture that staged the opening four-year-old maiden of 2026 on Sunday, and Meath trainer Ian Donoghue wasted no time getting off the mark with Code Name Cubitt.
The Jet Away gelding made a winning point-to-point debut, making all the running under Joey Dunne to score by a length from favourite Youcancountonme, with Keeptheflagflying a further half-length back in third.
Donoghue explained that the gelding had only arrived into the yard shortly after his most recent academy hurdle run.
“We got him four or five days after his run at Cork, so we just backed off him for a couple of weeks,” Donoghue said.
“We were actually going to aim him at Oldtown in a couple of weeks’ time, but he just came to hand quickly and we said we might as well run him when he was ready.”
That academy hurdle experience proved a key factor in the performance. Previously trained by Gavin Cromwell, Code Name Cubitt had contested two academy hurdles during November, finishing sixth at Fairyhouse before improving to finish third at Cork. Donoghue felt that experience gave the gelding a crucial edge against an inexperienced field.
“That was always the plan, to make use of that bit of experience and make the running.
If someone wanted to go quicker, we’d have let them, but we knew he’d stay well. He’s probably going to be a three-mile chaser down the line, so we were happy to use his stamina.”
The success of Code Name Cubitt also provided another positive indicator for the academy hurdle programme, with his prior experience under Rules clearly evident on his point-to-point debut. That early racecourse grounding helped sharpen his jumping and professionalism, offering further evidence of the value academy hurdles can play in preparing young horses for competition between the flags.
“I think the academy hurdles are a very good option.
They give them a bit of experience and when they come back to point-to-pointing, it can make a big difference.”
The winner came out of the race in good order and was not asked a hard question late on.
“He wouldn’t know he’d had a run this morning,” Donoghue added. “He was idling away from the back of the last, so he didn’t have a hard race.”
Owned by the Ballymaglassan Farm Partnership, Code Name Cubitt provided Donoghue with his first runner and winner for the partnership, headed by Douglas Taylor, who also owns the gelding’s sire, Jet Away, who currently stands at Arctic Tack Stud. Donoghue also has two other horses in training for the same ownership.
“It’s our first runner for them. I think they thought he might win an academy hurdle, but he was probably just getting beaten by flatter-bred horses, so it was nice to get the job done for them.”
The Bellharbour success provided another notable advertisement for Jet Away, whose stock continue to make their presence felt between the flags, with seven point-to-point winners already this season coming from six individual horses.
“He’s been a lucky sire for us,” Donoghue noted.
“We had Small Town Hero, a Jet Away, who won a point-to-point and went on to win five races under Rules, so he’s been good to us.”
Looking ahead, Code Name Cubitt is expected to head to the sales ring, although Donoghue stressed that no firm decision has yet been made.
“He’s for sale, although there’s nothing set in stone yet - whether he goes to Cheltenham or Goffs, but we’ll see.”
The result also provides Donoghue with an early marker for his four-year-old team, with a number of youngsters still to come out as the season progresses.
“We’ve plenty of four-year-olds, there are five named at the minute and we’ve a group of them to school after Oldtown, so we’ll know a lot more about what’s forward then.”
