Image © Healy Racing
Toni Quail's personal-best total of nine winners this season has secured her a first ladies' title, as she ended the campaign four clear of Pandora Briselden.
The Downpatrick native has enjoyed a particularly profitable conclusion to the season, with eight of her winners coming within an eight-week period from March 23rd, a run that was kick-started when Sam Curling’s star mare La Feline landed the ladies' open at Lisronagh.
Since then, Quali has combined with a number of Curling’s leading performers, chief amongst them being Cosmic Blizzard.
That six-year-old won three consecutive winners’ races at Stradbally, Ballysteen and Necarne, with stablemates The Great Unknown and Longhouse Star, each supplying Quail with a pair of winners each.
The latter’s victory at Tattersalls effectively shored up the title for Quail, as the facile 16-length victory at the Meath venue left her with an advantage of four winners heading into the final weekend’s action.
The 26-year-old, who had previously represented Ireland at the European Junior Eventing Championships, had secured her first success in the pointing sphere at Loughanmore in October 2020, and has since ridden a further 15 point-to-point winners.
This season, Quail also achieved a notable track winner when teaming up with Gordon Elliott to ride the winner of the Lorna Brooke Challenge Handicap Chase at Fairyhouse in November.
It was also a personal-best campaign for the runner-up Pandora Briselden, whilst the defending champion Maxine O’Sullivan finished the season in third after her campaign was brought to a premature end with an injury that she sustained in a fall at Dawstown in early May.
Toni will be presented with her trophy at the 44th annual GAIN point-to-point awards, which take place at the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny, on Saturday, June 7th. Tickets can be purchased here.
