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Racing Ahead

April 2025

Karl Hedley sees O'Callaghan off to winning start as Irish action warms up

The Cheltenham Festival has come and gone and it now seems appropriate to focus on another couple of big meetings such as the Fairyhouse Easter Festival as well as the upcoming meeting at Punchestown. There were still plenty of horses who ran last month and caught the eye, and who may well head to either of these two huge meetings or numerous others in the coming weeks.

Michael O'Callaghan registered a rare jumps winner at Navan earlier in the month, as the well-backed Positive Energy landed the opening Maiden Hurdle over two miles.

Bought by O'Callaghan for 28,000gns last December, the 4yo gelding today raced prominently under jockey Sean Flanagan, improved to lead before the last and comfortably held Springhill Warrior by one-and-a-half lengths.

It was O'Callaghan's first runner of the jumps campaign and having scored with Athlumney Warrior at Dundalk the evening previous, he quipped: "It has been a good 24 hours and I'm one from one this (jumps) season!

"It was a good effort on that ground because heavy jump ground is different to heavy Flat ground. He hasn't had form on it before. The fact that he was by Make Believe and we schooled him on it, we were happy enough that he might just get away with it. They went sensible enough pace that it gave him a chance and he (Flanagan) said he has plenty of gears.

"He said he was a little bit of a novice over a couple of them but was slick over a few of them as well. It is his first run over hurdles, so he is entitled to improve. Sean said he will be a nice hurdler going forward.

"We bought him as a dual-purpose horse for a bit of fun and we'll see where we go now. He might have a few runs on the Flat and there might be a novice hurdle for him in Galway in the summer."

Former Grade 1 winning hurdler Champ Kiely landed Navan's Grade 3 Flyingbolt Novice Chase later on the same card, making all over two miles, to win under Paul Townend for champi-on trainer Willie Mullins.