HATS off to Tipperary trainer Denis Hogan and the team of owners for their recent Curragh success with Make A Challenge. This Godolphin-bred son of Invincible Spirit (Green Desert) and the unraced Crinoline (Street Cry) was bought by Colm Sharkey and Denis Hogan for just £6,500 as a two-year-old.

Cast off by Godolphin without making a start, it was over a year before Make A Challenge ran for Hogan and the last two of his four starts within a month indicated that he might be capable of winning a race. He reappeared in April this year at four, has run nine times since and only been out of the first two twice. He has notched up wins at Fairyhouse, Galway twice and the Curragh twice and netted owners almost €110,000.

Make A Challenge is one of three winners amongst the first four foals for his dam, the others being the filly Quality Time (Exceed And Excel), and this year’s John Oxx-trained three-year-old Highland Dress (Shamardal) who won on his debut at Cork.

Crinoline is a half-sister to Saoirse Abu (Mr Greeley) and she won both the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes and the Group 1 Phoenix Stakes at two. While she failed to add to this in her second season, she did placed third in the Group 1 1000 Guineas at Newmarket.

While Make A Challenge’s third dam Morning Has Broken (Prince John) was no shakes on the racecourse, at stud she has left a proud legacy, her descendants including the Group 1 winners Balanchine (Storm Bird), West Wind (Machiavellian), Thunder Snow (Helmet), Trust In A Gust (Keep The Faith) and Art Connoisseur (Lucky Story).