AT first glance, the main storyline of Shannon Bank’s win in a mares’ handicap hurdle at Listowel at the start of the month was that she had rewarded the patience of owner Tom Mulvey on her 16th career start.

It was the seven-year-old’s second appearance since switching to the Newbridge yard of Andrew Kinirons and it was he who revealed the amusing tale behind how the Champs Elysees mare came to join his yard.

“Tom had her with Gavin Cromwell and he was friendly with lads who had a horse with me, who was second five times and went to Cheltenham,” Kinirons explained.

“Then they took the horse off me and sent it to Cromwell and it didn’t improve, so Tom decided he’d send Shannon Bank to me off the back of that. It was great that she won after all that; it all worked out well in the end.”

Placed on three previous occasions, Shannon Bank gained her maiden victory by three-parts of a length under Sean O’Keeffe, with another six lengths back to the third. Kinirons is hopeful that there is more to come from the mare, he adds: “It rained that day on top of watered ground, and I’d say she wants to cut in the ground for two miles.

“She’s probably only coming into herself as well. She has a good, staying pedigree and she’s going to step up in trip the next day at Downpatrick. She won well enough in the end at Listowel and I’d say she’ll progress a good bit.”

Owners rewarded

Listowel had been the plan for a while, though, due to Shannon Bank winning a €7,500 bonus on top of the winning prize of €7,200, thanks to the Weatherbys ITBA National Hunt Fillies’ Bonus scheme.

“We aimed her for that race because of the bonus,” her trainer explained. “The bonus is really important for that level of races - that was a 110 hurdle - and they’re the owners that need to be rewarded.

“When you win the bonus, it’s like winning another race - actually, it’s probably better than winning another race, because there are no deductions, which there is with prize money.”

The valuable bonus was to the fore of Kinirons’ mind once Shannon Bank joined his string, as her breeder Paul Mullins, who is a friend of owner Tom Mulvey, made sure to let the trainer know that he had qualified her for the scheme.

“The first thing Paul Mullins said to me was to try win one of those races,” the trainer said. “She’s handicapped over fences, but I might try to find a mares’ beginners chase, where she could win another bonus.”

While Mullins may not own Shannon Bank now, the owner/breeder has benefited from the bonus scheme himself, through his home-bred mare Switch From Diesel.

When the daughter of Yeats won her bonus, Mullins told The Irish Field: “The fillies’ bonus is great and I’d say it was definitely another little incentive to run.

“Mares weren’t recognised for a long time, but this is a great scheme now, it’s given it a great boost. I’d say a lot more people are keeping mares and you can see it at the sales as well, they’re paying well for fillies and mares at the moment.”

Further appeal

As well as the bonus scheme, the mares’ jumps programme has increased the appeal of National Hunt mares and boosted their value at the sales.

On the subject of the mares’ programme, Kinirons commented: “I think it’s very good. Maybe they could have more mares-only races, because if you have a mare like her, racing only against other mares is a big advantage. It’s hard to take on geldings.”

The opportunities available to fillies is one of the reasons that Kinirons is keen to get more jumps mares into his yard, he adds: “The biggest winner we’ve had was a Grade 3 fillies’ race, so I actually look for fillies, more so than geldings.”

The blacktype winner mentioned by Kinirons was Lagoon Nebula, who led home an Irish 1-2-3 in the Grade 3 KTDA Fillies’ Juvenile Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham last April. The daughter of Ulysses started on the flat, but the yard has a traditional National Hunt-bred mare to look forward to in Tiger In New York.

The Capri four-year-old showed plenty of promise on debut three weeks ago, when finishing third in a fillies’ bumper at Cork.

That performance can be upgraded, according to her trainer, who said: “She’s a nice filly and the saddle kind of slipped on her a bit that day.”