It was by no means the most glamorous meeting to take place last week but Cork’s all-jumping fixture last Friday was nothing short of a landmark one as it played host to a double for rookie trainer Robbie McNamara.

An outstanding amateur rider who partnered two winners at the 2014 Cheltenham Festival, McNamara was left paralysed from the waist down after a fall at Wexford in April 2015. After recently receiving his licence, McNamara made his intentions clear by sending out four representatives on his first day and events last Friday represented a stunning and inspirational start to the trainer’s new career.

Appropriately, McNamara got off the mark with the Dr Ronan Lambe-owned Chadic. It was in the Lambe colours that the rider notched up those two aforementioned Cheltenham victories. The promising Rathcannon then completed the brace with a smooth victory in the bumper. Not only did this represent a whirlwind start to McNamara’s new career but this was truly an evening to warm the heart.

On the flat front, it was an excellent week for Aidan O’Brien who made his mark at the highest level on both sides of the Atlantic.

Firstly, Alice Springs bounced back from her unlucky Ascot defeat with victory in the Group 1 Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket. The following day, the trainer bagged his first American Grade 1 of the season as a back-to-form Deauville, who finished down the field in the Epsom Derby, landed the Belmont Derby.

For good measure, O’Brien’s two-year-olds also acquitted themselves well in several showpiece events at Newmarket’s three-day July fixture. The tough Roly Poly ground out victory from compatriot Magical Fire in the Group 2 Duchess of Cambridge Stakes, while Intelligence Cross and War Decree both ran well in taking second in the July and Superlative Stakes respectively.

Certainly the O’Brien juvenile team looks as powerful as ever as the pivotal two-year-old events of the season loom large on the horizon.

To stick with the two-year-old theme, Leopardstown played host to an intriguing prospect last Thursday in Jim Bolger’s Radio Silence. A son of War Front and a $675,000 purchase at a breeze-up sale in Florida in March having posted the joint fastest time in the sale, this colt was evidently expected to make a notable impact on his debut.

He was sent off a well-backed odds-on favourite for a seven-furlong winners’ contest and he did not disappoint in recording a smooth success. This was just a relatively minor four-runner affair but there was much to like about Radio Silence’s display and a possible clash with high-class two-year-old Psychedelic Funk at the Curragh this weekend will represent an excellent test of his credentials.

Sales

On the sales front, last week’s Tattersalls July Sale posted quite a strong set of final figures. The three-day mixed auction produced an aggregate of over 12.3m gns which was a record for the sale and a 38% progression on last year. The average of 21,523gns was an improvement of 17% while the median dropped by nine points to 10,000gns.

The latest staging of this sale took place against the backdrop of Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. Brexit’s potential impact on proceedings was watched with considerable interest but a global buying base coupled with an especially strong draft of horses from Godolphin meant that the sale posted a good set of figures. It should be stressed though that the lingering legacy of the Brexit vote and the continued uncertainty that it has created should not be underestimated in the coming months.