KATDAY, the dam of the triple Gold Cup winner Best Mate, was euthanized just days before she would officially have turned 29. Owned by Philip and Jane Myerscough, the French-bred daughter of Miller’s Mate was an outstanding broodmare and her first four foals were all blacktype performers.

Best Mate, winner of 14 races and more than £1 million, was her first foal and six of his 11 chase victories were at Grade 1 level. His own-brother Cornish Rebel also won at the highest level, annexing the Challow Hurdle among his seven career wins. Both were sons of Un Desperado, as was nine-time winner Inca Trail.

The dual graded hurdle winner Inexorable, by Roselier, was another well-known performer for Katday who had nine foals to race and all bar one won on the track or in point-to-points.

Looking back now it is worth remembering that Sheikh Mohammed played his part in this success story as he raced Katday when she was a three-time winner in her native France as a three-year-old. Transferred to the ownership of Saeed Manana she was sent to Ireland and the stables of John Fowler, for whom she started three times over hurdles in a three-week period.

Ridden by Anthony Powell, she finished third, fourth and fifth, her best run being a third-place finish behind Harveysland at Roscommon. She was sold that December at Tattersalls as part of the Darley draft for 4,000gns.

Having slipped foal on her first covering, Katday then reappeared in the sales at Fairyhouse to dissolve a partnership and was sold for just 1,500IRgns to Declan Weld of Old Meadow Stud. He sold her on privately to Jacques van’t Hart after putting her in foal to his own stallion Un Desperado. After producing her first offspring, sold for just 2,500Irgns as a foal, van’t Hart sold the mare at Goffs in February 1996 for IR£5,500, back in foal to Un Desperado.

Katday was bought on this occasion by Philip and Jane Myerscough and she remained in their possession until her death. They variously bred her progeny in the names of Ballysheehan and Baroda studs and in their own names.

That first foal turned out to be Best Mate, winner of three Cheltenham Gold Cups for Henrietta Knight after she and Terry Biddlecombe purchased the winning point-to-pointer from Tom Costello. His other big race wins included the King George VI Chase and the Ericsson Chase at Leopardstown.

The Myerscough’s owned and bred another leading son of Un Desperado, Ventana Canyon, and he was out of a mare whose grandsire was Mill Reef. This was one of the attractions of Katday when she was sold and the resulting progeny following her purchase was Inca Trail who won nine races and earned some blacktype at both Cheltenham and Aintree.

The Myerscoughs went back to Un Desperado again in 1996 after buying Katday and that offspring, the mare’s third, was Cornish Rebel. He was a stalwart of the Paul Nicholls yard and won the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle and also was a Grade 2 winner in bumpers and over fences.

When Katday’s fourth foal was offered for sale as a four-year-old store his half-brother Best Mate had won his first Gold Cup and Eddie O’Leary had to go to 185,000gns to secure him for his brother Michael. The price was then a world record price for a National Hunt store and the Roselier gelding, subsequently named Inexorable, was sent into training with David Wachman and won a point-to-point before winning a couple of graded hurdle races. He died at the age of seven after falling on his chasing debut.

Katday’s fifth foal and first filly was Sidalcea and this daughter of Oscar was retained by the Myerscoughs and put into training with Edward O’Grady. She won a 25-runner bumper at Punchestown on her debut and this was just one of only three starts she made. Her first three foals have all won and include two mares that sold for six-figure sums as foals – All The Best Mate (€120,000) and Forever Present (€210,000). The latter price is a record.

The sixth racecourse winner for Katday was the Bob Back mare Katmai and she won in the colours of Philip Myerscough on her racecourse debut. This was a bumper at Fakenham and she was trained by Nicky Henderson. She made just one more start and was sold in foal to Presenting for €115,000 in 2011.

The intriguingly named half-brothers, Nitrogen and Pure Oxygen, were the last two foals produced by Katday and between them brought €310,000 as foals at the sales. Both later went on to be successful in point-to-points.

Katday had three more foals, one of which was never named. The remaining pair are two daughters at stud and include Best Mate’s and Cornish Rebel’s own-sister Flying Iris, the unraced dam of a winner with her first foal.

Katday was named the 2003 ITBA National Hunt Broodmare of the Year and she was put to sleep at her owner’s Colbinstown Stud on December 30th. Philip Myerscough paid tribute to this wonderful matron. “Katday was the most wonderful mare to have, one of those rare jewels that produced both superior runners and individuals. We hope that her daughters and granddaughters will continue to carry on her legacy. My wife Jane and I were so very lucky to have her.”