MAHLER (Galileo) was one of the best classic colts of his generation and his place at stud was guaranteed once he proved himself on the racectrack. He only ran at three, failed to make it to the races at four, and he retired to stud as a five-year-old. He holds court at The Beeches Stud and his 2019 fee of €5,500 is likely to increase if his current rate of success continues.

Last weekend two geldings from his third crop, Glen Forsa and Chris’s Dream, landed Grade 2 contests and brought to six the number of blacktype winners he has sired.

Five of this group have earned their stripes over fences. OK Corral flies the flag for his first crop and this Grade 1 runner-up at the Cheltenham Festival last year over hurdles is a fine recruit to chasing this season.

A real live Aintree Grand National hope, Ms Parfois, Ornua and the dual Grade 2 winning hurdler Sutton Place are from Mahler’s second crop and he will have a number of well-fancied runners at the upcoming Cheltenham Festival where a winner would be a major boost to his CV.

Bought by Demi O’Byrne for 140,000gns as a yearling, Mahler won a 10-furlong maiden at Leopardstown on his second start, took a mile and a half classic trial at Gowran Park by five lengths from Ezima and then contested the Epsom Derby on his first start in stakes company.

He rebounded quickly to run at Royal Ascot and land the two-mile Group 3 Queen’s Vase.

Beaten almost three lengths by Lucarno in the Great Voltigeur Stakes when he finished fifth, Mahler got much closer to that opponent in the Group 1 St Leger at Doncaster, being beaten into second place by just a length.

ENORMOUS TASK

His next and final start saw him face an enormous task for a European three-year-old and tackle the Group 1 Melbourne Cup. He put up arguably the best performance of his career to finish third behind Efficient.

Bred in Bree, Enniscorthy by Jonathan Deacon at the family’s Clonmore House Stud, Glen Forsa was a stunning winner of the Grade 2 Kingmaker Novices’ Chase from Kalashnikov and he will now contest the Arkle Chase at Cheltenham.

Sold for €33,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale, Glen Forsa won a bumper over 13 furlongs but failed to add a hurdle success in three starts, finding just one too good for him on two occasions.

Now he is unbeaten in three runs over the larger obstacles.

He is the best of three winners for his dam Outback Ivy, herself a daughter of Bob Back (Roberto). She showed just a single glimpse of form in seven starts, finishing fourth of 20 in a maiden hurdle at Down Royal when trained by Jessica Harrington.

Her other winners are Crocodile Dundee (Westerner), a hurdle and chase winner in 2017, and Don’t Ask (Ask), a winner over hurdles in 2017 and 2018.

Outback Ivy is a half-sister to Bracey Run (The Parson), a four-time hurdle winner who was third in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle at Sandown.

Their unraced dam Outdoor Ivy (Deep Run) was a half-sister to Grade 2 winning hurdler Killone Abbot (The Parson), Grade 3 winning chaser Fair Is Fair (Tekoah) and to the bumper winning dam of the smart chaser Anabatic (Strong Gale).