THERE might never have been €6,000 better spent if Min continues to light up the racing scene as he has done so far. The five-year-old French-bred son of Walk In The Park sauntered to victory last weekend in the Grade 2 Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle at Punchestown and is now being considered one of the hotpots for Cheltenham.

He has now demolished the opposition in two starts for Willie Mullins and Susannah Ricci, but surprisingly in light of these performances he was beaten on both his starts as a three-year-old at Auteuil. He finished fourth in a listed hurdle race on his debut and then third on his second outing. It will be hard to lower his colours in the future if he maintains his current rate of progress.

Guy Petit paid the €6,000 at the Arqana Autumn Sale for Min as a two-year-old. The gelding is the fourth and last produce of his dam Phemyka and her fourth winner. The first pair, Satwa Princess and Belamage, were by Daliapour and won 10 races on the flat combined. The third foal, Gaone, is a son of Sagacity and he won on the flat and over jumps.

Walk In The Park, surprisingly, did not win a stakes race and in fact had only one win to his name, gained on his fourth start at two years. Trained by John Hammond for Michael Tabor, the son of Montjeu was bred to win a classic and managed to finish runner-up to Motivator in the 2005 Derby at Epsom. As a juvenile he had shown that he was up to racing against the best when third in the Group 1 Criterium International.

The stakes-winning Galileo filly Soon and Walk In The Park are the best of the progeny of Classic Park, a classic-winning daughter of Robellino. She won the Irish 1000 Guineas in 1997 for owner Patricia Burns of Lodge Park Stud and trainer Aidan O’Brien, with Stephen Craine doing the steering.

Min is out of the Saint Estephe mare Phemyka who raced from two until the age of five, recording a single minor success as a three-year-old. Her sire won the Coronation Cup at Epsom and is a son of Top Ville, sire of Un Desperado.

Phemyka is one of three winners for her dam Stormyka, a daughter of Akarad and winner of three races as a four-year-old. One of her daughters, the unraced Vettori mare Toryka, is the dam of Satwa Duke and this son of Munir was a smart hurdler in Italy where he won listed races at Merano and in Rome and was runner-up in the Grade 1 Corsa Siepi di Merano Hurdle.

Stormyka is a half-sister to the Ezzoud gelding Stormez and he joined Martin Pipe from France where his three victories included a Grade 3 and a listed hurdle. He won over hurdles for his new connections and was third in a poor renewal of the Grade 1 Sefton Novices’ Hurdle at Aintree. He was partnered to a number of his eight chasing victories by A.P. McCoy, but ironically his biggest successes over fences were gained with Timmy Murphy and Barry Geraghty in the saddle.

For a family that is now producing superior National Hunt winners, one of the half-sisters to Stormez and Stormyka bred the French and German group-winning sprinter Swedish Shave, and is grandam of the five-furlong Group 3 Prix d’Arenberg winner Headache.

A further remove back in the family and we find that Min’s fourth dam is the Group 3 Greenlands Stakes winner Drama and she is the ancestress of a host of top-class flat winners.