Four-year-old Irish maidens are the go-to place if you want to find future stars - as this year's big Christmas races proved

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It was no surprise to see Golden Current beat his ten rivals at Dromahane on Tuesday with the minimum of fuss.

The British-bred son of Golden Horn crossed the line 12 lengths clear of the field to win one of the final four-year-old maiden races of 2025.

The reason it was no surprise was because 2025 was the year of easy four-year-old maiden winners from the Jonathan Fogarty stable.

Golden Current was the 12th winner in the age category the Wexford handler saddled during the year, leaving him at the top of that leaderboard with his fellow countymen Cormac Doyle and Colin Bowe.

Bowe was celebrating yet another Grade 1 success for the graduates of his Milestone stables over the busy Christmas racing period when Skylight Hustle landed the Paddy Power Future Champion Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown.

This initial top-level victory for the son of Jukebox Jury followed just over a year after he made a winning start to his career in an Umma House four-year-old geldings’ maiden, part of a common theme among the five Grade 1 winners in Britain and Ireland from December 26-28.

Irrespective of the distance, from the two-mile triumphs of Skylight Hustle and Romeo Coolio to the victories over longer trips of The Jukebox Man, Final Demand and Affordale Fury, all five had won point-to-points on their debuts having started their careers with Wexford handlers.

For Romeo Coolio, that was with Donnchadh Doyle at Belclare; The Jukebox Man won at Turtulla for Ellen Doyle; Affordale Fury landed Gary Murphy’s first winner as a handler at Ballycahane; and Final Demand won at Lingstown for Matty Flynn O’Connor.

Final Demand differs slightly, not only from that group of high achievers but also other notable recent winning ex-pointers such as Haiti Couleurs (Welsh Grand National) and Favori De Champdou (Paddy Power Chase), in that his debut success at the Wexford venue in March 2024 came at the age of five.

Most of the pointing exports who have gone on to scale the greatest of heights under rules have tended to start their careers in four-year-old maidens, a point underlined over Christmas. Surely, then, the big guns will be beating a path to Fogarty's door.

Weekend fixtures

Sunday

Ballindenisk, first race 12.30

Tinahely, first race 12.30

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