Sam Curling setting a fast pace in trainer standings, but too early to rule out a Colin Bowe comeback

Sam Curling: dominant force this autumn with a 27 per cent strike-rateCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

This weekend's three fixtures will bring the curtain down on the autumn term and, whatever happens at Dromahane, Ballycrystal and Tattersalls, Sam Curling will head into the Christmas break as the season’s leading handler after a flying start by his Skehanagh Stables team.

Curling has been dominant this autumn and not a weekend has gone by in the first nine weeks of the season when he has not saddled a winner. That consistency leaves him with 14 winners from 51 runners at a strike-rate of 27 per cent.

He has double the number of winners as Colin Bowe, who sits in second place. Despite the impact of Wexford-based handlers on the sport at present, Bowe is the only handler from the county to feature in the top four, with Tipperary’s Pat Doyle and Antrim-based Ger Quinn immediately behind him.

Bowe has been accustomed to dominating the championship, having been crowned leading handler outright in each of the last ten seasons. This campaign has been more mixed, with stable second-string Roi Du Roume at Borris House last Sunday being Bowe's first winner since November 2.

However, Bowe has been here before. Just three years ago, he entered the Christmas break in fourth place, sitting behind Declan Queally, Gordon Elliott and Donnchadh Doyle, having sent out just one winner more than he has managed this term.

That season ultimately proved to be one of his most successful after a blistering spring campaign saw him crowned champion once again with 46 winners, equalling his personal best and coming up just one shy of matching Robert Tyner’s record of 47 winners from the 2009 season.

There are still plenty of miles ahead, undoubtedly filled with twists and turns aplenty, but Curling’s challenge to the reigning champion’s long-held crown is certainly shaping up to be one of the stories of the season.