Ever since moving his horse training operation to Fermanagh in 2004, David Christie has been at the forefront of Irish Horse Point to Point racing.

Out of the 15 years that Christie has been working from his yard in Derrylin, he has been the leading Point to Point trainer in Northern Ireland in all but three years and has constantly been in the top six on the island of Ireland in every year.

Tomorrow (Friday) he will take four horses across the water to Stratford, England for a season ending National Hunt meeting with the hope of rounding off what has been a successful year with a few more winners.

“We would have a reasonable chance. You don’t go over there without chances but at the same time you are up against the likes of (Paul) Nicholls and (Phillip) Hobbs and all the big trainers so it is not straightforward either.

“You’d be hoping to win but at the end of the day it has been a long season and the horses have all been winning.

“This time of the year there are no gimmes but there are nice horses going over and all you can do going over to those big meetings is hope to be in the first four.

“You don’t go over thinking I could win this but hopefully I can be in the first four here and if things go right on the day maybe you will get one,” he said, during an interview with The Impartial Reporter.

A long season it has been for Christie and his yard but it is one that he is quite content with.

“I’ve been happy. We have 11 winners, we’ve won a Hunters Chase at Carlisle, placed in Hunters Chase throughout England.

We were third in the biggest Hunters Chase of the year really at Aintree. We are now on the 285 winner mark since we came to Fermanagh so things have gone well.”

Roads to Riches was the horse that got that third place finish at Aintree in April and the horse will be at Stratford alongside Velvet Maker, Sambremont and Winged Leader.

Christie is happy with how preparation has been going for the four horses, and with the work complete over the last week they are now over in England getting ready for the Friday meet.

And for those who fancy a flutter Christie has high hopes for one horse in particular. And if things go well, it will be an encouraging sign for next season.

“I suppose the horse we are excited about is Winged Leader because he is only five and he’s a very young horse. He really is doing things at the minute that most of the horses would be waiting until six or seven to do.

“We are excited about him but mostly for next year.

What we are really doing is we are going over with him to test the water and we are going to give him the experience of travelling and everything else involved with being at a big meeting. So that if things went right for us next year, we could head to maybe Cheltenham or some of those big meetings in England and you have to put all the groundwork in at this stage,” he told The Impartial Reporter.