Private purchases during Covid having a detrimental influence on pointing winners

Last weekend’s Dublin Racing Festival has rightly been judged a tremendous success on many fronts, but for Irish point-to-point graduates it was an unusually disappointing festival.

Plenty of former pointers made the frame, Honeysuckle, Banbridge, Fury Road and Inthepocket among others, but The Goffer was the sole winner across the high profile two days, Davy Russell at his brilliant best to steer him to victory in the 2m5f handicap chase.

The Goffer was a fine third for Benny Walsh at a Tipperary point fixture run during the Covid-disrupted spring of 2021, and was sold to Gordon Elliott for £65,000 that April. Sunday’s success was the fourth victory of his career.