THE opening Grade 1 races on what turned out to be the second day of the Dublin Racing Festival were won by a pair of geldings by Doctor Dino (Muhtathir). That 24-year-old stallion is about to embark on his seventeenth season at Haras du Mesnil.

Remarkably, this leading sire has never once in his career had his fee lowered, something that can be said about few stallions. Doctor Dino began at just €3,000, and this year will stand for a second time at a fee of €24,000.

The only thing of note missing on his CV is the absence of a Group or Grade 1 flat winner. The Henri and Antonia Devin-homebred Physiocrate finished a length behind Star Of Seville when runner-up in the Group 1 Prix de Diane, French Oaks, while the same couple’s Golden Legend was three-parts of a length second in the Grade 1 E.P. Taylor Stakes in Canada.

Over jumps it has been a very different story. On Monday, victories for Doctor Steinberg and Narciso Has took Doctor Dino’s tally of Grade 1 winners to 13, and it is easy to imagine that this number will grow to a much greater number in the years to come. Intriguingly, only one of those Grade 1 wins was at the Cheltenham Festival, State Man winning the Champion Hurdle, but Willie Mullins has two more fine candidates heading to this year’s meeting.

Triumph Hurdle

The Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle is the target for Narciso Has, bred by Jean-Sébastien Hamel at his family’s farm. He was offered for sale as a two-year-old at Arqana, but unsold at €100,000. Having won a three-year-old hurdle at Auteuil on his debut, he sold to J.P. McManus and moved to Closutton. Narciso Has has contested three graded contests for Willie Mullins, runner-up on his debut and now a dual winner, his latest and best coming in the race won in recent years by Mullins with Vauban, Gala Marceau and Kargese.

Narciso Has is a full-brother to the Auteuil listed hurdle winner Namour Has (Doctor Dino) and half-brother to the Compiegne listed chase winner Na Has (Saint Des Saints). Namour Has is at stud and has two foals already on the ground, the oldest a two-year-old. While Narciso Has was gelded, his half-brother Na Has remained an entire, and his first crop are two this year. He stands at Haras de Toury, and in his first three seasons has covered a total of 225 mares.

Trained by François Nicolle, as was Namour Has, Na Has was placed in listed company over hurdles and fences. A son of one of the best sires of jumpers, Na Has is out of Chegei Has (Kahyasi). She was second in the Group 3 Prix de Royaumont on the flat, though she never won on the level, and over jumps was winner of the Listed Prix de la Gascogne Chase, and ran second in the Grade 1 Prix Alain du Breil Hurdle for four-year-olds.

Doctor Steinberg

A €95,000 Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale purchase by Harold Kirk and Mullins, Doctor Steinberg won the opening Grade 1 novice hurdle, and is the latest in a long list of stars produced by Walter Connors. The Dungarvan veterinary surgeon raced the gelding’s dam, Rosy De Cyborg (Cyborg), in France where she won twice over jumps and was placed at Grade 3 level. Doctor Steinberg is her seventh offspring, all of which have run. Six are winners, and the odd-one-out pulled-up on his only start in a point-to-point, having started favourite.

Rosy De Cyborg is one of seven winners for Rosy Junior (Labus), herself successful five times over jumps. Among the others was No Full (Useful). He won over jumps in France for his breeder Francois Cottin, over fences in England for Paul Webber, over hurdles in Ireland for Eoin Doyle, while his placed efforts included finishing third in the Grade B Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown, this time when trained by Tom Foley.

A solid performer in France where he won at up to Group 2 level and was placed at the higher grade, Doctor Dino made his international forays pay handsomely. He twice won the Group 1 Hong Kong Vase at Sha Tin, and beat a quality field to land the Grade 1 Man O’War Stakes at Belmont. When he was retired to stud, at the age of eight, he had clocked up winnings of more than €2.75 million.

Getaway not staying out of the limelight

DOCTOR Dino was the not the only stallion in the limelight at the Dublin Racing Festival. The French superstar stands for €24,000, while down at Grange Stud, for just €4,000 this season, you can avail of the services of the year younger Getaway (Monsun).

Okay, his stud record doesn’t match that of Doctor Dino – not many do – but the German champion racehorse and dual Group 1 winner sired two big race winners this week, Grade 3 chase hero Backmersackme and the concluding Grade 2 bumper winner, Broadway Ted. Previous winners of this bumper include Envoi Allen, Appreciate It, Kilcruit, Facile Vega and A Dream To Share. Keep an eye on the latest winner.

Broadway Ted and Backmersackme take to 23 the number of graded jump winners sired by Getaway, and to 35 the total number of blacktype winners he has had. Leading the way are six Grade 1 winners, namely Handstands and Sporting John, (both winners of the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase, Sandown), Feronily (Ellier Champion Novice Chase, Punchestown), Glan, Assemble, and Verdana Blue (Christmas Hurdle, Kempton). Getaway crosses well with mares from the Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) line, and Handstands, like Broadway Ted, is out of a King’s Theatre (Sadler’s Wells) mare.

Broadway Ted was purchased by his owner David L’Estrange for €75,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Springhill Dispersal Sale three years ago. This followed the death of Kieran Lennon, who had bought Broadway Ted as a foal for €28,000 from Ashroe Stud in Limerick. The Grade 2 winner is one of five foals out of the smart racemare Morning Run (King’s Theatre) who won Grade 3 novice hurdles at Fairyhouse and Down Royal.

Well bought

Three of Morning Run’s five foals have run and won, and all had the distinction of being successful in 2025. Broadway Ted won on his debut in December, the Grade 3-placed novice hurdler She’s A Fine Wine (Flemensfirth) won twice over fences last year for Henry de Bromhead, adding to a bumper and two hurdle victories, while There Runs Mary (Flemensfirth) won a bumper and a hurdle race for Olly Murphy. Morning Run’s last offspring, a now three-year-old son of Walk In The Park (Montjeu), looks well bought as a foal by Matt Coleman for €52,000.

The Brian Doran-bred Backmersackme was sold three times, twice by Tattersalls Ireland and latterly at Tattersalls Cheltenham. I don’t know who Red Sauce Bloodstock is, but well done on picking up this Grade 3 winner’s yearling half-brother by Mirage Dancer (Frankel) for €2,000 at Tattersalls Ireland in November. Their unraced dam Princess Dante (Scorpion) is a half-sister to the Grade 1 Drinmore Chase winner Jessies Dream (Presenting), and to the dam of another winner of the same race, Beacon Edge (Doyen).

The Doran family has a long association with this pedigree, going back to Backmersackme’s fourth dam Slave De (Arctic Slave), dam of the brilliant Buck House (Royal Buck). He won both the Supreme Novices’ Hurdle and Queen Mother Champion Chase at Cheltenham in the 1980s.