ACTIVE FORCE (IRE)

2013 gelding by Oscar (Sadler’s Wells) ex Terracotta Queen, by Beneficial (Top Ville)

The James Browne-bred Active Force is no stranger to the sale ring. A €15,000 foal purchase at Fairyhouse by Richard Rohan, he sold for just €25,000 at the Goffs Land Rover Sale three years later. Winning a point-to-point changed his value substantially and Mags O’Toole was stretched to £165,000 to secure him at the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham April Sale in 2017. He was rewarded for his consistency when he won The Irish Field Flat Race, the closing event of the Limerick Christmas Festival.

Active Force becomes the first winner for his unraced dam, though she is also responsible for a couple of placed runners. The grandam Greenflag Princess (Executive Perk) was a well-known performer in Ireland, bred also by James Browne. She graduated from the point-to-point field where she won three times to add a bumper, a hurdle race and four chases to her roll of honour. She was placed a few times in graded chases, including another sponsored by this paper, the Grade 3 The Irish Field Chase at Punchestown. Greenflag Princess is grandam of last year’s Grade 2 Killarney hurdle winner Lakemilan (Milan).

ASH HILL (IRE)

2014 gelding by Aizavoski (Monsun) ex Sarah Marshall, by Flemensfirth (Alleged)

Bred by Michael Byrne and sold by him for €8,500 as a foal at Tattersalls Ireland to Ballybrennan Stud, Ash Hill was sold on at profit when realising €48,000 at the 2017 Goffs Land Rover Sale and bought by Ian Ferguson. He is from the first crop of the multiple listed winner Aizavoski who stood at Arctic Tack Stud and who is off to a great start with his first runners. Ash Hill is also the first racecourse winner for his unraced dam, though she bred the point-to-point winner Carumba (Gold Well).

Sarah Marshall’s half-brother Monoceros (Un Desperado) was placed in a Grade 2 hurdle race at Fairyhouse and their grandam was Shining Jug (Deep Run). She is the third dam of Waiting Patiently (Flemensfirth) who lowered the colours of Cue Card last year when landing the Grade 1 Betfair Chase at Ascot. Shining Jug is a half-sister to Grade 1 Supreme Novice Hurdle winner Miller Hill (Green Shoon) and a full-sister to winning hurdler Deep Shine (Deep Run). The latter bred Grade 1 winning hurdler Mighty Mogul (Good Thyne).

CASTLE OLIVER (IRE)

2014 gelding by Stowaway (Slip Anchor) ex Belle Innocence, by Turgeon (Caro)

The first bumper winner of 2019 was the Joseph O’Brien-trained and J P McManus-owned Castle Oliver, bred by Clare Kehoe and Bill Byrne. Sold by the breeders as a foal for €19,000, he resold at the Derby Sale for €56,000 and was signed for by his trainer. His win at Fairyhouse was just his second start, and he was placed on his debut over hurdles. Castle Oliver is the third winner for his dam, the previous pair being daughters of King’s Theatre (Sadler’s Wells).

Belle Innocence won a listed race at Auteuil, her only success, and she was sold the year Castle Oliver was foaled for just €3,000 in foal to Califet (Freedom Cry). Last year Clare Kehoe and Bill Byrne bought one of Belle Innocence’s winning daughters. Hopefully Castle Oliver will now progress and reward their reinvestment in the family. Belle Innocence was one of five winners for her dam Sainte Innocence (Akarad), while the third dam Sainte Hermine (Bellypha) bred eight winners.

COBBLER’S WAY (IRE)

2014 gelding by Oscar (Sadler’s Wells) ex Beeper’s Leader, by Supreme Leader (Bustino)

Bred by Andy Leahy, Cobbler’s Way was sold as a store at the 2017 Goffs Land Rover Sale for €38,000. Placed in a point-to-point, he was sent to the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham April Sale last year and bought by Mags O’Toole for £120,000. He won on his bumper debut for Gigginstown House and trainer Henry de Bromhead. He is the first winner for his unraced dam.

Winners are rare enough in this family going back a few generations, but those that are successful tend to make a name for themselves. Cobbler’s Way’s grandam Beeper’s Gale (Strong Gale) was the only winner out of third dam Glencairn (Buckskin), but she is also the grandam of Foxchapel King (Jolly Jake), a prolific winning chaser who landed the Grade 2 Ericsson Chase and Grade 2 Troytown Chase.

EXIT POLL (IRE)

2014 gelding by Elusive Pimpernel (Elusive Quality) ex Carolobrian, by Mark Of Esteem (Darshaan)

From the second crop of the Irish National Stud-based Elusive Pimpernel, this Shane Lawlor-bred was winning at the third time of asking, having been placed on both of his previous starts. Sold by his breeder (who hails from the family that bred Mill House) for €16,000 as a foal at Goffs, he was bred initially to be a flat runner. However his family has consistently produced good winners over humps. Indeed, Exit Poll’s year-older full-brother is Ex Patriot and he is a two-time winner over hurdles and multiple graded-placed.

Their dam Carolobrian won a 10-furlong maiden at Clonmel carrying Shane Lawlor’s colours and she is a half-sister to two blacktype winners. Playfellow (Kheleyf) won 15 races, including a listed race at Pontefract, while Sweetheart (Sinndar) was a seven-time winner on the flat and over hurdles and gained her biggest success in a Grade 2 mares’ hurdle at Ascot. Another blacktype jumps winner emerges in the next generation and this is the Australian-bred Virvacity (Flying Spur) who won a number of listed races over hurdles and fences in his native country.

GRAND MOGUL (IRE)

2014 gelding by Presenting (Mtoto) ex Oligarch Society, by Moscow Society (Nijinsky)

Sold as a foal by John Lightfoot for €48,000 at Fairyhouse, Grand Mogul was repurchased as a store at the 2017 Derby Sale for €75,000 in a private transaction. This was just before his full-brother Brahma Bull ran up a sequence of three bumper wins and a maiden hurdle success for Willie Mullins. Their dam was a smart racemare and won a listed hurdle race at Limerick. She is one of four blacktype winners for her winning dam Glen Empress (Lancastrian) and the others are the Grade 1 Irish Grand National winner Thunder And Roses (Presenting), the Grade 1 Kerry National winner Wrath Of Titans (Oscar) and the Grade 2 winner and Grade 1 runner-up Shirley Casper (Presenting).

Glen Empress is the dam of six winners in all and the other pair, Lesley Dawn (Flemensfirth) and Lonesome Dove (Milan), were both placed in blacktype races. Glen Empress is a half-sister to Bishops Island (The Parson) whose best effort was running second to Barton Bank in the Grade 1 novices’ hurdle at the Aintree Grand National meeting.

NEPTUNE (IRE)

2014 colt by Galileo (Sadler’s Wells) ex Caumshinaun, by Indian Ridge (Ahonoora)

What can one say about Neptune, winner of a bumper at Leopardstown after three placed efforts in similar contests? He is bred to be a champion and, given that he is a full horse, he could be a most interesting sire in time if he compiled a decent race record. He is by a multiple champion sire, and sire of sires, and he is bred in the purple on his dam side. He is trained by Dermot Weld and was bred by the trainer’s late mother Marguerite, known to her friends as Gita.

Neptune is a full-brother to the Group 1 Irish 1000 Guineas winner Nightime (Galileo) and she in turn is the dam of Grade 1 Man O’War Stakes winner Zhukova (Fastnet Rock). The latter mare sold to Godolphin in 2017 for 3,700,000gns and last year was covered by Dubawi (Dubai Millennium). Nightime is the best of nine winner from the listed winner Caumshinaun and both of these mares raced in the silks of Mrs Weld. If you dig back a little further in the family a number of well-known National Hunt winners are peppered among the top flat horses, names such as Min (Walk In The Park) and Stormez (Ezzoud).

SHANCHES (IRE),

2014 filly by Shantou (Alleged) ex Nairobi, by Un Desperado (Tip Moss)

Owned and bred by Michael Foley, Shanches caused an upset at 40/1 when showing great battling qualities to land a bumper at Limerick on her debut. Her sire is a venerable 26-year-old since January 1st and is still in active service at Burgage Stud. A half-sister to point-to-point winner Out Of Africa (King’s Theatre) and a full-sister to the bumper-placed Shantou Bay, Shanches’ dam failed to get her head in front and was placed five times in bumpers and hurdle races.

Nairobi is a half-sister to Prominent Profile (Mazaad), a Grade 2 winning bumper horse in England who went on to win five times over jumps, running third in a couple of Grade 2 hurdle races. The third dam of Shanches is the winning three-year-old Frivolity (Varano) and she occupies the same position in the pedigree of Grade 3 winner and multiple Grade 1-placed Tombstone (Robin Des Champs), and of Tintangle (Yeats), a listed bumper winner who was third recently in the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle at Leopardstown.

TENS OR BETTER (IRE)

2013 filly by Gold Well (Sadler’s Wells) ex Not So Green, by Roselier (Misti IV)

Pat Fahy drew 2018 to a close with a Punchestown bumper winner courtesy of Tens Or Better. Bred by Patrick and John O’Connor, the mare was bought for just €5,500 by her trainer in Part 2 of the Derby Sale and she has already won more than that with this victory and a placed effort. She is winner number four for her dam who took until the age of eight to win a point-to-point, but she is a much better broodmare.

In addition to Tens Or Better, she is also dam of another useful winning mare in The Green Lady (Westerner) who was placed in a Grade 3 hurdle race at Limerick. While no racecourse winner appears in the second generation of the family, a couple of high-class performers emerge under the third dam Sno-Cat (Arctic Slave). She bred the Grade 1 Sun Alliance Hurdle winner Ten Plus (Raise You Ten) back in the eighties, while her grandson Feathered Leader (Supreme Leader) was a Grade 1 winner at both Fairyhouse and Punchestown.

VALDIEU (FR)

2013 gelding by Diamond Boy (Mansonnien) ex Vamuna, by Varese (Tip Moss)

Bred in France by Eric Becq, this Noel Meade-trained gelding was well overdue a bumper success. Winner of a point-to-point for Gordon Elliott, he was runner-up four times and third once on all his previous starts for his new yard before obliging at Down Royal. Sold for €16,000 as a two-year-old at Arqana, he realised a nice profit a year later at the Goffs Land Rover Sale when selling to Mouse Morris for €54,000.

Another promising sort from the first crop of the Kilbarry Lodge Stud-based Diamond Boy, Valdieu is inbred 3x3 to Tip Moss, that stallion being the sire of both of Valdieu’s grandsires. Diamond Boy’s second crop includes the dual Grade 3 chase winner Cat Tiger and the listed hurdle winner Grand Sancy. Valdieu’s half-sister Vauquoise (Ungaro) is a listed chase winner in France. Their grandam Casta (Labus) was placed in a listed hurdle race for fillies in France, and her half-sister Armalita (Goodland), who was placed in the same race, is the dam of Grade 1 winning chaser Armaturk (Baby Turk).

BENRUBEN (IRE)

2013 gelding by Beneficial (Top Ville) ex Didinas, by Kaldou Star (Kaldoun)

A surprise bumper winner when successful at Leopardstown at 33/1, Benruben was bred by James Dunne and ran in his colours until just before his most recent victory. He had previously been placed over hurdles. His breeder attempted to sell Benruben at the Derby Sale but retained him at €62,000. A half-brother at the time to Bordini (Martaline) who had won a listed bumper at Navan, Benruben is now the third racecourse winner from his unraced dam, being joined in 2018 by Silk And Sand (Beat Hollow) who won a bumper at Thurles in November for her owner/breeder Dunne.

Didinas is a half-sister to the Grade 3 Auteuil hurdle winner Dindounas (Astarabad) and she has gone on at stud to produce three blacktype winners over jumps in France. The best of these are Hippomene (Dream well) whose eight wins include a pair of Grade 1 hurdle races, and the Grade 2 winning hurdle mare Sanouva (Muhtathir). Benruben’s sire Beneficial died in the year of his birth and he was a mainstay for many years at Knockhouse Stud.