Double Island off the mark in effortless style

Remember the name Double Island.

That was the clear message emanating from yesterday’s extremely wet second stage of the two-day Ormond Foxhounds point-to-point meeting at Ballingarry in north Co Tipperary, the closing fixture of the 2014/15 campaign, for the son of Turtle Island hinted that a bright track career lies in wait by effortlessly shrugging aside the opposition in the six-year-old geldings’ maiden.

The hooded Double Island (3/1), runner-up on his most recent start at Athlacca, led from the third fence with his Tinahely-based owner/trainer John Walsh’s son James. The combination made the rest of the running and, although runner-up So Influential closed between the final two fences, Double Island still triumphed by two lengths. In a truly-run 16-runner race, there was a distance back to the third-placed finisher Ajijic.