THERE were plenty of firsts about the result of the Grade 1 WillowWarm Gold Cup at Fairyhouse on Easter Sunday. It was a first Grade 1 winner for owner Margaret O’Rourke, trainer Andy Slattery, and jockey Cian Quirke. In the past decade the race has been a stepping stone in the careers of such as Al Boum Photo, Galopin Des Champs and Spillane’s Tower.

This year’s winner, Fleur In The Park (Walk In The Park), is the longest-priced winner in that period, but there was nothing to fault in the manner of his victory, his fourth in 17 starts, but his first in a blacktype race. Bred by brothers Noel and Kevin Heaney, this is the best result they have had as breeders, though their family has a long association with horses, and their grandfather Eamonn McCormack bred the Grand National winner Papillon.

Sold as a newly-turned yearling at the 2020 Tattersalls Ireland February National Hunt Sale through Francis Quinn’s Railstown Stud, Fleur In The Park realised €17,500 from the Slattery’s Fox Cover Stables.

This can certainly be considered a bargain in light of what his dam’s other progeny have sold for in the sales ring. From an outstanding female family, Fleur In The Park is out of the Grade 1 four-year-old French chase winner Fleur D’Ainay (Poliglote) who cost €165,000 at Arqana in 2014.

At the time of his sale, Fleur In The Park had three older siblings, and the first of these had run and been placed. This was Zurekin (Martaline), a €65,000 foal purchase by Longways Stables, and in the months that followed he would go on to be a listed hurdle winner at Auteuil, where he placed in a Grade 2 contest. He was followed by dual hurdle winner Hunting Brook (Presenting), a €90,000 Derby Sale graduate, and Marie Philippe (Flemensfirth), a Fairyhouse bumper winner on the first of just three lifetime starts.

With the emergence of Fleur In The Park, his dam Fleur D’Ainay’s record stands at four winners from her first four foals, and they are followed by a four-year-old daughter of Doctor Dino (Muhtathir) and a three-year-old son of Walk In The Park. The latter full-brother to Fleur In The Dark was sold to Grange Stud for €43,000 at Tattersalls Ireland at the 2024 February Sale, and would be a hugely attractive offering if he comes back for sale this spring or summer.

The outsider

While he started as the outsider on Sunday, and was gaining his maiden blacktype victory after wins at Roscommon (bumper) and Wexford (over hurdles and fences), Fleur In The Park has one been out of the first four once in his 17 outings, and he was beaten less than a length three times in Grade 2 races and by a head in a Punchestown bumper.

Fleur D’Ainay is one of nine winners from her unplaced dam Guendale (Cadoudal), four of whom won blacktype contests. Her half-brother Crystal D’Ainay (Saint Preuil) won the Grade 2 Rendlesham Hurdle at Kempton and Grade 2 Cleeve Hurdle at Cheltenham (beating Hardy Eustace), and was three-parts of a length behind Baracouda when runner-up in the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle. Their half-sister Etoile D’Ainay (Dom Alco) numbered four listed victories among her 12 career wins.

Fleur In The Park is Grade 1 winner number 13 for Walk In The Park (Montjeu), standing his 11th season at Grange Stud, and his total tally of blacktype winners is now 60 (at the time of writing). That figure will grow significantly in the years ahead, and he looks well placed to secure another sire championship this season, currently some £1.2 million or so ahead of his nearest challenger.

RARELY do stallions come up for sale at public auction, but such was the case last year at Arqana with Chanducoq (Voix Du Noir). He sold for €450,000 from Haras de la Barbottiere where he went to stud as a six-year-old in 2019 at a fee of €1,400. That initial fee reflected his average race record and likely appeal to breeders, but he has performed with distinction from limited opportunities, and he is a name to watch for into the future.

Chanducoq is now at Haras du Cercy, and their acquisition of the now 13-year-old, who topped the Arqana November Sale last year, had special significance. They stood his sire Voix Du Nord (Valanour) briefly, as that top-class stallion died at the age of 12, but he left behind such talented runners as Kemboy, Vroum Vroum Mag, Espoir D’Allen and Defi Du Seuil, among many others. Voix Du Nord was held in such high regard by Cercy that a barn on the stud is named in his honour.

There was a further attraction. Chanducoq is a half-brother to Cercy stalwart Cokoriko (Robin Des Champs) who stands this year at a career high of €15,000. Like his half-brother, the 17-year-old Cokoriko started out at a small fee, just €1,700, but with runners of the quality of Kitzbuhel, Julius Des Pictons, Coko Beach and three Grade 1 winners in France, he has become a leading sire.

As bloodstock agent Valentin Adam signed the docket, Cercy’s Jacques Cypres could not hide his delight at getting Chanducoq. He said: “He’s a horse that gave so much to jumps breeders. He is a promising stallion who has been getting winners, while his brother Cokoriko is not getting any younger. It’s not easy to find a jumps pedigree to match his. While he is not overly big, he is well put together. Voix Du Nord was such a good stallion.”

First lot

Chanducoq was the very first lot through the ring on the final day of the Autumn Sale, one devoted to breeding stock and foals, and the price he made was the third highest of the week. At the time of his sale, Chanducoq had yet to sire a blacktype winner, though he had made a promising start. His first four crops averaged about 25 each year, so he had limited opportunities.

Days after he was sold, Chanducoq had a Grade 3 winner from his first crop, Tutti Frutti winning the Gerry Feilden Hurdle at Newbury for Paul Nicholls. A little more than two months later, the gelding was back at the track to destroy the opposition in another Grade 3, winning unchallenged by 15 and 18 lengths. Better was to follow when, at Cheltenham, Apolon De Charnie won the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle for Willie Mullins, and the trainer also handles the sire’s Grade 2 novice hurdle winner at Fairyhouse, He’s On Fire. Little wonder that Haras du Cercy can now charge €6,000 for Chanducoq.

Helping to further advertise the appeal of Chanducoq, his half-brother Cokoriko got the other Grade 2 novice hurdle winner on Sunday, Koktail Brut, a €250,000 graduate of the Goffs Punchestown Sale two years ago.

Elise Chayriques

Bred and originally raced by Elise Chayriques, He’s On Fire showed little on his first two runs from Yannick Fouin’s yard, but on his third start he was beaten a short neck by the subsequent listed winner Goliath D’Aunou. That was in mid-November, after which he joined Mullins. He won a maiden hurdle at Carlisle by 20 lengths in mid-February, and now has progressed to become a Grade 2 winner. He is an exciting prospect.

He’s On Fire is the third foal and first winner from the moderate Venus Du Puy Noir (Kapgarde) who showed nothing in three starts. One of her first two foals has also run, and was placed once in 10 starts. Venus Du Puy Noir has two winning siblings, one of which, Le Rivage (Goliath Du Berlais), was placed in a Grade 3 chase.

There is quality further back in the family. He’s On Fire’s third dam Force Atlantique, a listed hurdle winner and half-sister to Group 2 winner and successful sire Sleeping Car (Dunphy), bred four winners and is grandam of Ile Atlantique (Coastal Path). He won a Grade 2 hurdle race at Naas and was runner-up by a neck there in the Grade 1 Slaney Novice Hurdle.