Extraordinary Win For Valmy Baie Racegoers at the Christmas meeting in Down Royal, and at the Aintree Festival in the spring, could be in for a treat if Valmy Baie's extraordinary performance in winning an open point-to-point at Kirkistown at the weekend is anything to go by. A former French runner, Valmy Baie first came to attention on these shores when winning a Fairyhouse handicap hurdle for Barry Connell and Gordon Elliott in February 2014. Still only a seven-year-old, the Crillon gelding has really found his niche since embarking on a point-to-point career this year. He's won six since, and never been worse than third, in 10 outings for owner Ray Nicholas and trainer David Christie. Valmy Baie, who was partnered by regular rider Barry O'Neill, lost a huge amount of ground at the start on Saturday but after eventually consenting to start, the favourite caught up with his three rivals before the halfway point. Soon in front, the victor eventually saw off 2015 champion pointer, Mr Bolt, by two lengths. Irish point-to-point website, www.p2p.ie, acknowledged the performance with a highlights video of the event on its Facebook page, which unsurprisingly garnered a huge response. "He's a stronger horse this year and he's seeing out his races well so I'd suppose he's entitled to go there (Down Royal) as much as the rest of them," said Christie. "He's had four runs this autumn in point-to-points and he's beat some very handy horses. "He's come out of the race well. He's actually very genuine but he has a little quirk in him which can come out when you go to put someone up on him, and it can show down at the start a wee bit too. "That's my only concern as we go on, but at the same time he has huge ability. "The flat track at Aintree would be ideal for him. He'd be a genuine contender for the Aintree Foxhunters if everything went according to plan." Reflecting on the Kirkistown win, the County Fermanagh-based handler commented: "It was incredible. Two of them (the opposition) are just OK horses, but Mr Bolt was well-fancied and he's a good yardstick. "Noel (McParlan, rider of Mr Bolt) told me he couldn't believe it when our horse appeared back in the race again. "He had over a furlong to make up from a standing start and you'd have thought when he got there that he'd get tired. But to still be able to dig it out was the amazing thing about it. "He certainly makes the heart pound and there aren't too many horses that do that. The buzz around after the race was amazing. To think that it was the fastest race of the day as well makes the story all the better."
