APOLOGIES Frank McNulty. The former BBA Ireland man is one of the most affable people in racing, and one who understands the ups and downs of the sport, and of breeding. I have no doubt that he will derive plenty of satisfaction from knowing he bred a very good racemare in Feet Of A Dancer (Authorized), one half of a double for trainer Paul Nolan at Doncaster on Saturday.

The seven-year carries an FR suffix, and id one of five offspring of her dam Leah Claire (Tomba) who was bred in that country. Her win in the Grade 2 Yorkshire Rose Mares’ Hurdle is the most important of her six victories over hurdles, and follows a previous win in the Listed Grabel Mares Hurdle at Punchestown, a race in which she was placed a year earlier. In between her two biggest wins, she was runner-up to Wodhooh in a Grade 3 at Leopardstown after Christmas.

It is hard to comprehend how Feet Of A Dancer sold at Arqana as a yearling in 2020 for only €1,500, purchased by no less a judge than Gerry Hogan. He also purchased the weekend Grade 2 winner Ma Shantou.

Feet Of A Dancer has won more than €100,000 in 16 starts. In addition to her six victories, she has been second once, third five times and fourth twice. Last year she was fourth in the Grade 3 Pertemps Hurdle Final at Cheltenham in March and third in the Grade 2 Rathbarry & Glenview Studs Hurdle at Fairyhouse at Easter.

Getting better

Feet Of A Dancer is living up to the family reputation of getting better with age, and being sound. Frank McNulty bred and raced her dam Leah Claire who faced the starter 59 times. That mare won nine races, twice over hurdles, and placed on 23 occasions.

She was in the frame in a couple of listed races, including The Irish Field Loughbrown Stakes at the Curragh, at the age of seven, and was runner-up in a Grade 2 hurdle at Leopardstown.

Leah Claire is dam of a full-brother to Feet Of A Dancer, the Olly Murphy-trained Act Of Authority (Authorized). He graduated from winning a point-to-point to scoring five times over hurdles, and back in March he was runner-up at Cheltenham in the Martin Pipe Hurdle, ironically also to Wodhooh.

Brian Keenan now owns Leah Claire, and at the upcoming Goffs February Sale he will offer her latest offspring, a colt by Affinisea (Sea The Stars). He is Lot 53.

The second Doncaster Grade 2 winner for Paul Nolan was the Robert McCabe-bred Thedeviluno (Elusive Pimpernel), and this progressive type is as short as 12/1 for the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham. If he keeps improving at the rate he is doing, he will be no forlorn chance in March.

Elusive Pimpernel

Winner of the Group 3 Acomb Stakes at two and the Group 3 Craven Stakes at three, Elusive Pimpernel was second to St Nicholas Abbey in the Group 1 Racing Post Trophy, and was one of the last good horses trained in an outstanding career by John Dunlop. After two years at Islanmore Stud, Elusive Pimpernel stood for the remained of his stallion career at the Irish National Stud.

He sired a couple of stakes winners on the flat, while Thedeviluno is his ninth blacktype winner over jumps. Others who won at Grade 2 level under National Hunt rules include Thedevilscoachman, Coeur Sublime who was runner-up in the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle, Ex Patriot and Jungle Junction.

Winning sibling

Thedeviluno is the third foal out of the unplaced Maybe Its For Luck (Muhtathir) who had one winning sibling. Their dam Lucky Us (Fayruz) was no more talented than her daughter, being unplaced on the flat and over jumps in Italy, but she went to stud as a half-sister to the Group 1 Italian Oaks winner Lady Bentley (Bellypha).

This is a family that was so good for many years to the Norton and Hall-Dare families at Newtownbarry House in Bunclody, Co Wexford, also being responsible for the dual Group 1 winner Yawa (Luthier), successful in the Grand Prix de Paris and the Premio Roma.

Skippylongstocking’s win prompts sale of his sibling

AMONG the additional entries Fasig-Tipton announced this week for its Kentucky Winter Mixed Sale on February 9th is a graded stakes-winning half-sister to the recent Grade 1 Pegasus World Cup winner Skippylongstocking (Exaggerator).

Catalogued as Lot 395, the four-year-old Mia’s Mom (Maclean’s Music) won last year at three and placed second, six and seven weeks after being covered by the dual champion Essential Quality (Tapit), standing at a fee of €50,000 at Jonabell Farm. With earnings of $16,323, Mia’s Mon has done little to repay her $275,000 yearling price tag, but as a winning half-sister to three stakes winners, she might finally bring some money.

Contrast her price and earnings with those of her best sibling, the seven-year-old Skippylongstocking, a $15,000 Keeneland yearling and $37,000 Ocala two-year-old. His latest win, a first at Grade 1 level, brought his tally of victories to 13 (he was runner-up previously in the Pegasus World Cup), and his earnings to a staggering $5.46 million. He races for Daniel Alonso who signed for him at the sales as a two-year-old.

Skippylongstocking is a second major Group/Grade 1 winner bred by Brian and Patrick Moore. Operating as Brushy Hill, they are also responsible for the 2022 Group 1 Saudi Cup winner Emblem Road (Quality Road). They bought the dam of last week’s Grade 1 winner, Twinkling (War Chant), carrying Moonlite Strike (Liam’s Map) for $42,000, and sold that colt for $120,000. He won a stakes race and placed in the Grade 2 Tampa Bay Derby.

Having planned the mating that produced Skippylongstocking, and lost money, they repeated that feat again with Twinkling’s next produce, Olivia Twist (Mshawish). A $20,000 yearling, the breeders had the pain of watching her sell for $230,000 as a breezer, and go on to become a six-time winner, including a stakes race. She earned $320,000 and sold in November for $500,000 to Jim Cone, having failed to go in foal at the first attempt.

At the same sale, and a day earlier, Shadai Corporation spent $275,000 for the unraced Always Twinkling (Take Charge Indy), another daughter of Twinkling, and that five-year-old is due next month to Twirling Candy (Candy Ride). Twinkling’s current three and two-year-old fillies sold for $550,000 and $1 million respectively as yearlings. With her four runners all proving to be winners, there will be great expectations with these better-bred daughters.

Skippylongstocking is the first top-level winner for Exaggerator (Curlin). He was one of the best runners of his generation, winning the Grade 1 Santa Anita Derby, Preakness Stakes and Haskell Invitational Stakes, and he was runner-up to Nyquist in the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby.

The Pegasus World Cup winner is from the second crop of Exaggerator, conceived at a fee of $30,000 when the sire stood at WinStar Farm in Kentucky. In 2022 Exaggerator moved to California and his fee this year has been set at $5,000.