YOU won’t find many better examples of the value that can be found in buying National Hunt fillies this year than the case of Long Gone.

A daughter of Getaway out of an unraced Flemensfirth, she went unsold for a mere €700 as a foal before reappearing as a store in the 2021 Tattersalls Ireland August National Hunt Sale.

Picking her up for just €1,200 at Fairyhouse is now proving quite the bit of business for owner John Bates and his son Gilmer. When the Declan Queally-trained seven-year-old struck in a €15,000 mares’ maiden hurdle at Tramore last month, she became one of six winners of the Weatherbys ITBA National Hunt Fillies Bonus Scheme during April.

Not only that, it was Long Gone’s second victory in the scheme, having won a Limerick bumper by eight-and-a-half lengths this time last year. All told, the €1,200 bargain has now collected two bonus payments, worth €7,500 and €5,000, and separately earned €18,790 in prize money across just six lifetime starts.

She has won more than 10 times her purchase price back in Weatherbys ITBA bonuses alone.

“My father bought her at the sales and felt that she was all there at the time,” says Gilmer Bates, who runs a landscaping business in Ballyclare, Co Antrim.

“She maybe wasn’t the biggest model but was very correct and there was enough of her. He felt it was worth taking a chance on her. She’s very lightly raced, has only run six times at the age of seven, so we haven’t pushed her. I think that’s been the best thing for her. Declan has done a great job with her.

Adding up

“The bonuses are fantastic to be winning with a mare like her. In reality, it pretty much doubles the prize money you take home, so we’re really pleased to get it. We’re delighted.”

The Bates family have been enjoying the journey with their gutsy mare and are well-steeped in the National Hunt game. Only recently in March, they struck in a point-to-point at Kirkistown when five-year-old Order Of Justice came home in front in a mares’ maiden for Brian Hamilton.

“My father used to ride in point-to-points as an amateur jockey, and my grandparents had horses - it’s always been in the family,” says Gilmer.

“We’ve had horses in training over the last few years as we don’t really have the facilities at home and I work full-time. It’s an expensive hobby!

“We try to keep a point-to-point horse to run and sell every year, and we had the winner at Kirkistown [this spring]. That’s a very competitive space, though, and it’s hard to find a horse capable of doing that. We’ll try to keep the ball rolling, but it’s easier said that done at times! There’s no better feeling when things go right.”

It’s a long trip from Co Antrim to where Declan Queally is based in Co Waterford. However, Gilmer says the experience of having a horse in training with the progressive operation is more than worth the trek to the south.

“I think he’s one of the best trainers in the country,” said Bates.

High praise

“He’s really top-class and I’d recommend him to anybody. The man’s a genius. I’m based up north and got into contact with him through a man beside me up here who had horses with him. He recommended him well. I wanted to see if she’d be good enough to go to the track and, after three months, Declan said she’d win a bumper. Thankfully, he was right.

“For the grade of horses he often runs, his strike rate is great and, when he tells you when one will win, he’s never usually far away. He’s honest and will equally tell you when one isn’t good enough.”

Connections are open-minded about the immediate future for Long Gone, though a bid to take home a third Weatherbys ITBA National Hunt Fillies Bonus over fences is in mind as a long-range target.

“She’s rated 110 now, so we’ll probably go for a handicap hurdle next,” said Bates.

“All being well, we’ll run in the coming weeks, but a bit of rain would be a help. She could get a break after that, but we’ll play it all by ear. She’s obviously won two of the bonuses now and we’d like to try her in a chase to get the bonus there too some day. Whatever happens, she owes us nothing.”