IN the past eight years, Paddy and Helena (Kennedy) Burns have enhanced the reputation of Loughtown Stud, in Donadea, Co Kildare, which was home in the past to such luminaries as Red God and Ragusa.

There are no stallions now, just a collection of well-bred mares, foals and yearlings, alongside an odd pony, and the stud’s drafts are always highly anticipated. Last year, the couple sold a pair of fillies in Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Sale by Lope De Vega and Wootton Bassett, both going to the account of M.V. Magnier.

Naas Racecourse is just 14 kilometres from the farm, and on Sunday two Loughtown graduates graced the winners’ enclosure there. Both fillies won maidens, and one of them, the two-year-old Your Song (Coulsty), booked her ticket to Royal Ascot when taking the Coolmore Stud Blackbeard Stakes.

Last year’s winner of the race, Charles Darwin, took the same route and landed the Group 2 Norfolk Stakes, and two years earlier River Tiber went from Naas to Ascot and won the Group 2 Coventry Stakes.

On her debut at Cork, Your Song had run in what has turned out to have been a very hot maiden, won by subsequent listed heroine Velozee, and now co-owners, Kerri Radcliffe, Arthur Hoyeau and Giselle De Aguiar can dream of what the future might hold for their Naas winner. It is possible that this daughter of Rathasker Stud’s Coulsty (Kodiac) could be the best of the 11 foals out of her dam Galaktea (Statue Of Liberty). Your Song is that mare’s last foal, born when her dam was 19, and is her sixth winner, all of which won at two.

Reliable mares

Your Song brought 32,000gns at last year’s Tattersalls Somerville Sale, and all but one of her dam’s progeny have now raced. The three that did not win all placed at least four times, and Galaktea has been one of those reliable mares, well capable of getting winners. While her offspring were not sale-toppers, they always found buyers looking for an early type to go to war with.

Galaktea displayed her best form at two, winning twice and finishing third to Starlit Sands in the Group 3 Prix d’Arenberg at Chantilly. Her daughter Tea Dance (Adaay) was also stakes-placed twice at two, and there was another recent update when Galaktea’s grandson Lesslepasser (Penny’s Picnic) was third to Rayevka in the Group 3 Prix Saint-Georges on French Guineas day at ParisLongchamp.

Robson De Aguiar is planning an assault on the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes (won last year by True Love) with Your Song. It is noteworthy that Coulsty does specially well with his daughters, Shantisara being a Group 1 winner, while Santosha won the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes as a juvenile.

Henry de Bromhead

Totally Puzzled (Sea The Moon) was one leg of a double at Naas, not only for Loughtown Stud, but in addition for trainer Henry de Bromhead. She won the Twydil/Clovelly Irish EBF Fillies Maiden as the outsider of the field, but this was simply down to her previous run. Having made a promising debut at Navan, she left her connections scratching their heads after a disappointing run at the Curragh, with Colin Keane in the saddle.

Keane had some good advice for de Bromhead after the run, over 10 furlongs, and he suggested she would be better over a stiff mile. So it proved to be, and now owner Brian Acheson and his family can look forward to stepping Totally Puzzled up in class. While de Bromhead is immediately recognised as one of the best National Hunt trainers about, he has a fine record on the flat with fillies.

The second leg of de Bromhead’s Naas double was with Wannabe Royal in the Listed Owenstown Stud Stakes, while he has trained other stakes-winning fillies and mares such as Thalara and Town And Country last year, Group 2 winner Term Of Endearment, Group 3 winner Higher Leaves and listed winner Empress Of Beauty in 2024, along with Magical Zoe taking the Ebor Handicap. Further back you’ll find the likes of Wren’s Breath, Minaun and Gorane.

Mags O’Toole

Totally Puzzled was bought by Mags O’Toole for €105,000 in Book 1 of the Goffs Orby Sale two years ago, and is winner number five for her unraced dam Chabelle (Shirocco). What value she has proven to be since her purchase six years at in Arqana for €26,000. At the time, her first three foals had won, and she was in foal to Intello (Galileo).

The filly she was carrying paid for the transaction, realising 52,000gns as a yearling, and Totally Puzzled was next. She is followed by the two-year-old colt Richbourg (Lope De Vega), bought last year by Kerri Lyons for 260,000gns. Chabelle has not had a foal since, remarked on by Paddy Burns as “the joys of breeding!”.

He went on: “We have been investing in replacing and upgrading from those older ladies, but they’ve been great servants”. So they have, and Paddy and Helena will be looking forward to watching the career of Totally Puzzled and her younger half-brother as the season progresses. Watch for where Henry de Bromhead goes next with the Naas winner – he is a master at race planning.