OVER the course of the two-day Dublin Racing Festival, 19 horses went to post carrying the green, white and gold colours of owner John P McManus. Four of them, all trained by Willie Mullins, returned to the winners’ enclosure, Kaid d’Authie (Choeur Du Nord) in the Ladbrokes Novice Chase, Majborough (Martinborough) in the Ladbrokes Dublin Chase, Narciso Has (Doctor Dino) in the Gannon’s City Recovery & Recycling Services Juvenile Hurdle, and Fact To File (Poliglote) in the Paddy Power Irish Gold Cup Chase. All four were ridden by Mark Walsh.

Majborough and Fact To File have been reviewed in depth previously, thanks to other Grade 1 wins, while Narciso Has appears this week in the piece on his sire. Kaid d’Authie is a new Grade 1 winner, and he represented the owner, trainer and jockey combo that took this race two years ago with Fact To File. Mullins has now won six of the last seven editions of this chase, and what a collection of horses he has triumphed with.

Only interrupted by Mighty Potter winning for Gordon Elliott in 2021, Mullins has saddled Faugheen, Monkfish, Galopin Des Champs, Fact To File, Ballyburn and now Kaid d’Authie to land the Grade 1 contest. Given the quality of the previous Mullins-trained winners, it is worth taking special notice of Sunday’s hero. Like when Galopin Des Champs was successful, Kaid d’Authie is only a six-year-old, and this was a major step up for him.

Though twice successful over hurdles, Kaid d’Authie, bred by Yann and Pierre Rougegrez, seemed to have his limitations exposed when he tackled better company over the smaller obstacles. He was beaten on his chasing debut, but that was at the hands of the subsequent Kempton Grade 1 winner Kitzbuhel. Now Kaid d’Authie too is a Grade 1 winner after landing his second success over fences. He is the first Grade 1 winner for his sire who sees his fee hit a new high of €8,500 this year, having started out in 2018 at just €1,500.

Well related

Choeur Du Nord (Voix Du Nord) won two of his three starts over hurdles, all of which were at Auteuil, and he is well related. One of six winners for his dam, two of his half-sisters have produced winners with whom we will be very familiar. Benie Des Dieux (Great Pretender) was a Grade 1 winner at Cheltenham, Punchestown and Auteuil, while Cokoriko (Robin Des Champs) is the sire of the aforementioned Kitzbuhel, Julius Des Pictons, Coko Beach and three Grade 1 winners over jumps in France.

Kaid d’Authie is the twelfth blacktype winner for Choeur Du Nord, and all but three of the others gained their biggest wins in France. The exceptions have been Grade 2 Doncaster novice hurdle winner Jeriko Du Reponet, also successful in the McManus colours at the Punchestown Festival last year; Heart Wood who was runner-up behind Fact To File in the Grade 1 Ryanair Chase in March, and is a Grade 3 chase winner; and Last Kingdon who won the Listed Lartigue Hurdle at Listowel in September. Oh, and Last Kingdom is trained by Willie Mullins for J.P. McManus!

The Choeur Du Nord (which translates at Northern Choir) success story looks like it will keep getting better. Just after Christmas, his son Klimt Madrik was second in the Grade 1 Challow Novices’ Hurdle at Newbury.

Last foal

Kaid d’Authie is the last of five foals produced by the three-time jumps winner Kadifette (Califet). All of her wins were over fences, twice at Auteuil and once at Pau, and she was trained for two of those successes by Guy Cherel, one of her breeders along with Pierre Rougegrez. She raced a total of 31 times. Four of her five offspring ran, two are winners and the others placed.

Soundness does not seem to be an issue with this family. Kadifette is one of four winners for her dam Kadaline (Kadalko). That mare showed no talent in five starts, two of them in the Czech Republic, but her four winners all raced between 20 and 47 times.

The most prolific runner was Disco d’Authie (Discover d’Auteuil), and he won and placed in a listed chase at Pau. Kadaline had just one winning sibling, Iron Man (Video Rock). He won the Listed Summer Plate Chase at Market Rasen, and won seven times in all. He raced on the track 50 times, and four times in point-to-points.

Talk The Talk is walking the walk

MY eyes deceived me at Leopardstown on Sunday, convinced as I was that Ballyfad got up to win the Grade 1 Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle. Instead, victory was claimed by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede’s Talk The Talk (Born To Sea), trained for the duo by Joseph O’Brien. What a ride JJ Slevin, a cousin of the winning trainer, gave the gelding.

Born To Sea (Invincible Spirit) has had declining support from breeders in France in recent years, but he is having a good season, and capped it with his Grade 1 winner at the weekend. This was his second top-level winner, after A Wave Of The Sea won another Tattersalls Ireland-sponsored race at this meeting in 2020.

A listed winner of The Irish Field Blenheim Stakes at two and runner-up in the Group 1 Irish Derby, Born To Sea is a half-brother to Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) and Sea The Stars (Cape Cross). He made a good start with his first two-year-old runners in 2016, but failing to build on that saw him move to France. He will stand a second season this year at a low of €3,000, based at Alain Chophard’s Haras des Faunes.

Born To Sea is the last son of that wonderful Urban Sea (Miswaki), and her eighth winner, every one of which won a blacktype race. Six of them won group races, four at Group 1 level. The champion racemare in Europe when she triumphed in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Urban Sea produced two Group 1 Epsom Derby heroes. Galileo completed the Epsom and Irish Derby double and went on to become a super sire. Sea The Stars, a three-parts brother to Born To Sea, also won the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, and ranks among the best sires in the world.

Stuart Crawford

Talk The Talk was bred by Haras de Faydeau (Lune and Frank Vergette), and sold as a store at the Goffs UK Spring Sale through Yeo Barton Bloodstock (Sarah and Nigel Faulks) to Highflyer Bloodstock for £70,000. Originally with Stuart Crawford, he made his debut at Newbury in March and he clawed back £20,000 of his purchase price when second in the Goffs Hundred Grand Bumper.

After joining Joseph O’Brien, he has won three of his four hurdle starts, and looked to have the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Christmas at his mercy when stumbling after the last and falling. The five-year-old Talk The Talk is the first foal out of Haras de Faydeau’s homebred Walk The Walk (Walk In The Park), and that unraced mare has four winning siblings.

More significantly, Walk The Walk is a half-sister to the placed Hyde (Poliglote), and what a broodmare she is proving to be. Her winners include triple Grade 2 winner and recently retired Goshen (Authorized), successful on 11 occasions, nine-time winner and €310,000 sale mare Elimay (Montmartre), and last year’s Grade 2-winning hurdle filly Delmegan (Goliath Du Berlais).