McCarthy eyes Punchestown for in-form Fountain House A very in-form Fountain House transferred his point-to-point form to the track to land the maiden hunters chase at Thurles. He was four from four 'between the flags' this season together with a fourth on track bow in a maiden hunters chase at Clonmel in January. The seven-year-old gelding jumped to the front three out and, while not fully fluent at the next, still held the initiative from Magic Sadler. He travelled well for Eoin Mahon rounding the home bend and was asked for more on the approach to the last. He veered right before jumping it but cleared it with a healthy cushion over Asphalt Cowboy in second. The leader kept on for a four-length success at 3/1 over the 20/1 runner-up. Last Round (7/1) was 11 lengths further adrift in third. Magic Sadler, the 11/8 favourite, was pulled up and this was a turnaround in from from when he was a couple of places ahead of Fountain House in second at Clonmel. Ian McCarthy said: "My first winner (in 2021) was during covid when they had bumpers for hunter chase-licensees and, while I'm mainly a pre-trainer, it is nice to mix it around with having a right fun horse like this. "He is a gorgeous-looking horse and, since I've got him, we've ticked away with him and he has been lucky for us. We'll look forward to Punchestown now as he qualifies for the farmers' race (Bishopscourt Cup) - with Kildare being my local hunt I wouldn't mind having a crack at it." He added: "I have mainly pre-trainers, but also mix between having 15-20 point-to-pointers and having breezers. I have between 50 to 60 horses in, between two barns, so it is working out well. "I'm balanced out well now, but I just need quality now. I have just a hunter chase license and have no interest in getting the full license as I have my mind set on what I'm doing." Additional reporting by Tom Weekes
