Course at Portrush being spiked and watered

Preparations are well underway for this Saturday’s point-to-point at Portrush, with work on-going on the track this week.

The full course has already been spiked with a verti-drainer, and watering commenced yesterday. The track will continue to be watered each day until Friday, with rain forecast on Friday night into Saturday morning.

The popular seaside venue always draws a big crowd on the north coast, and racegoers this Saturday will be hoping to see the locally-owned Winged Leader in action in the day’s feature race, the Kellys Portrush open.

The reigning champion point-to-pointer could bring his tally of point-to-point wins to 30 if he was successful on Saturday, as he continues his quest to become the all-time winning-most horse in the point-to-point sphere.

The card begins at 1pm with the Dennison Commercials four-year-old maiden, and races in that age group are always hotly contested at Portrush, with the four-year-old maiden winner at the venue’s autumn fixture last October, Kovanis, having already won a bumper at Leopardstown’s Christmas Festival, after topping the November sale in Cheltenham when bought by Gordon Elliott Racing for £330,000.