Honeysuckle (GB)
2014 f. by Sulamani (Hernando) out of First Royal (Lando)
Bred by Dr G W Guy
Honeysuckle added the Grade 1 Irish Champion Hurdle at Leopardstown to her unbeaten record. The daughter of Sulamani has now won all her seven starts over hurdles, having previously won her only start in a point-to-point. Owner Kenny Alexander has breeder Dr Geoffrey Guy and his co-owners and managers of The Glanvilles Stud in Dorset, Doug and Lucy Procter, to thank for the mare. Honeysuckle is the fourth and penultimate produce her dam.
Doug Procter said: “I was always a fan of Sulamani but he tended to get quite light-boned, narrow horses, so I felt he needed a mare with a bit of substance. “Honeysuckle’s dam was a great big lump of a Lando mare. She was a nice blacktype hurdler and a winner on the flat in Germany, a very good-looking mare.
“I was very pleased with Honeysuckle when she was born. As soon as I saw the foal I sent the mare back to Sulamani, so I have a year younger full-brother. We lost the mare, so the year younger brother was orphaned when he was about three months old.
“Honeysuckle only has one sister, a filly called Rock Royal (Shirocco). We raced her in France and she placed three times for us. We sold her on, she went to Jersey, and then after Honeysuckle won the first Grade 1 I bought her back from Jersey quite late last year and she was covered by Motivator (Montjeu).”
Sold for €9,500 at the Derby Sale Part 2, Honeysuckle was picked out by Peter Molony of Rathmore Stud at the Goffs Punchestown Sale in 2018, costing the Limerick man €110,000.
Latest Exhibition (IRE)
2013 g. by Oscar (Sadler’s Wells) out of Aura About You (Supreme Leader)
Bred by J F Mernagh
Breeder Jim Mernagh was walking his daughter up the aisle as the latest star of his Coolamurry Stud near Enniscorthy was winning his first Grade 1. Latest Exhibition is out of a Grade 3 chase winner who was placed over hurdles at the Cheltenham Festival and comes from the immediate family of Cheltenham Festival winner Rathvinden (Heron Island).
This is a family that seems to thrive over fences and Latest Exhibition could do likewise.
Chacun Pour Soi (FR)
2012 g. by Policy Maker (Sadler’s Wells) out of Kruscyna (Ultimately Lucky)
Bred by Didier Berland
Easily the best of the four blacktype winners to date for his Blackrath Stud-based sire, this dual Grade 1-winning chaser is the best of the offspring from his dam who won a Grade 3 hurdle at Auteuil among five victories. She was sold carrying Chacum Pour Soi for just €12,000 at Arqana.
Policy Maker was a four-time Group 2 winner and twice runner-up in the Group 1 Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud and fourth in the Japan Cup.
Notebook (GER)
2013 g. by Samum (Monsun) out of Nova (Winged Love)
Bred by Gestut Am Schlossgarten
Bred on the same lines as the Group 1 German Derby winner Kamsin, the dual Grade 1-winning chaser Notebook is a half-brother to a listed winner in Italy. His dam was stakes-placed in Germany and one of six winners from her dam Narina (Nebos), also a stakes-placed multiple winner.
Narina had a couple of stakes-winning siblings and their dam was a winning half-sister to the smart dual-purpose winner Anji (Gulf Pearl) who won at Royal Ascot, landed the Ebor Handicap and was placed in the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle.
Notebook and the final winner of the Dublin Festival, Darling Daughter (Presenting), are both out of mares by Winged Love (In The Wings).
Eclair De Beaufeu (FR)
2014 g. by Monitor Closely (Oasis Dream) out of Tenebreuse Gemm (Visionary)
Bred by Mickael Renaud
Winner of the Group 2 Great Voltigeur Stakes from Mastery, Monitor Closely then ran third to the same horse in the St Leger, after which his form tapered off, though he raced on for two more years. From very limited opportunities at stud he is sire of this smart Gordon Elliott-trained winner, one of just a pair of runners he has had under NH rules in Ireland and Britain.
Eclair De Beaufeu is from the family of the Grade 2 Cheltenham chase winner Nycteos (Chamberlin).
Thosedaysaregone (IRE)
2013 g. by Getaway (Monsun) out of Gonearethedays (Be My Native)
Bred by David S Speiran
Sold as a foal for €12,000 at Goffs, Thosedaysaregone is one of a trio of racecourse winners for his unraced dam and she is also responsible for a pair of point-to-point winners.
The best of Gonearethedays’ siblings was Uncle Junior (Saddlers’ Hall), a dual bumper winner who went on to win 10 races over jumps and was placed in the Munster National.
Their third dam bred the Grade 1 Punchestown hurdle winner Bayrouge (Gorytus) and the Grade 2 hurdle winner Ravaro (Raga Navarro).
The latter bred Aries Girl (Valiyar), runner-up in the Grade 1 Cheltenham Bumper and Irish Champion Hurdle and ancestress of a host of Grade 1 performers, most recently Colreevy (Flemensfirth).
Getaway stands at Grange Stud.
Appreciate It (GER)
2014 g. by Jeremy (Danehill Dancer) out of Sainte Baronne (Saint Des Saints)
Bred by Barmakin Ltd and South Lodge Stud
The top-class winners by Jeremy keep on coming and this was the first of two at the Dublin Racing Festival by the former Irish National Stud and Garryrichard Stud stallion.
This Grade 2 bumper winner was sold as a foal at Tattersalls Ireland for €18,500 to Apple Tree Farm and resold two and a half years later at the Derby Sale for €60,000 to Suirview Stables. He has graduated from being a point-to-point winner to become a dual bumper winner.
Appreciate It is the best of three winners for his dam who was placed in bumpers, and his siblings include Danny Kirwan (Scorpion), a bumper winner who ran second in the Grade 2 Kennel Gate Novice Hurdle at Ascot. Sainte Baronne is a half-sister to nine-time winner (eight over jumps) Bingo Bell (Fijar Tango) and he landed a Grade 3 chase at Auteuil.
Black Tears (GB)
2014 f. by Jeremy (Danehill Dancer) out of Our Girl Salley (Carroll House)
Bred by R T Crellin
Good racemares are the order of the day in this family. Black Tears is the first winner out of Our Girl Salley, winner of three listed hurdle races, two of them at Leopardstown where her daughter became a blacktype winner at the weekend.
Under Black Tear’s third dam Crazy Rose (Son Of Silver) up crops the Grade 1 winning hurdler Airlie Beach (Shantou) and her Grade 2-placed half-sister Screaming Rose (Darsi). Good to see Jeremy’s son Success Days commence stud duties this year as the early death of his sire has been a source of regret for some time. Jeremy is also sire of Our Conor and Jer’s Girl.
A Wave Of The Sea (IRE)
2016 g. by Born To Sea (Invincible Spirit) out of Je T’Adore (Montjeu)
Bred by John Yarr
Is there a possibility that some enterprising stud master would bring Born To Sea back to Ireland? The sire of four stakes winners on the flat has now made quite a splash this season, with his four-year-olds including Grade 1 winner A Wave Of The Sea and Grade 2 winner Aspire among their number.
A Wave Of The Sea sold for 21,000gns as a foal at Newmarket and is the first foal from his dam who has five winning siblings. They are out of a half-sister to US Grade 1 winner Tuscan Evening (Oasis Dream) and this is the family of the new Beeches Stud stallion Crystal Ocean (Sea The Stars) and Garryrichard Stud sire Hillstar (Danehill Dancer).
Asterion Forlonge (FR)
2014 g. by Coastal Path (Halling) out of Belle Du Brizais (Turgeon)
Bred by Earl La Forlonge
A three-time visitor to the sales Asterion Forlonge sold for €13,000 as a yearling at Arqana, €60,000 at the 2017 Derby Sale and £290,000 at the Cheltenham February Sale in 2018 to Harold Kirk. The now Grade 1 winning hurdler shares his sire with dual Grade 1 winner Bacardys and they are the best of nine blacktype winners for their sire who was a Group 2 winning stayer who placed in the Ascot Gold Cup. Asterion Forlonge’s third dam bred the Grade 1 French winning chaser Ice Mood (Turgeon), and is grandam of Sire De Grugy’s sire My Risk (Take Risks).
Treacyenniscorthy (IRE)
2012 g. by Beneficial (Top Ville) out of Bridge Hotel Katie (Glacial Storm)
Bred by James Treacy
From one of the last crops of the Group 2 Royal Ascot winner Beneficial, sire of nine Grade 1 winners including Cooldine, Treacysenniscorthy is from a family that has sprung to life in recent generations.
His fourth dam Marfille, a winning hurdler and point-to-pointer at the age of seven bred a single winner, his third dam Brave Intention (Brave Invader).
She won a bumper and three years later added a chase and she had just one winning offspring, a point-to-pointer scorer. Her daughter Call Catherine (Strong Gale), Treacysenniscorthy’s grandam, was very successful at stud and three of her four winners earned blacktype. The best were Grade 1 winning hurdler Travino (Roselier) and Grade 2 winning chaser Days Hotel (Oscar).
Delta Work (FR)
2013 g. by Network (Monsun) out of Robbe (Video Rock)
Bred by C and J Magnien
A feature of many leading National Hunt winners bred in France is the absence of inbreeding going back many generations. Such is the case with the now five-time Grade 1 winner Delta Work who could soon be joined as a blacktype winner by his stablemate and younger half-brother Elwood (Martaline). This is a family that produces a good winner in every generation and a couple that have done well outside France are Irish Grade 3 winning hurdler and chaser Toner D’Oudairies (Polish Summer) and Grade 2 winning novice chaser Bigmartre (Montmartre).
Faugheen (IRE)
2008 g. by Germany (Trempolino) out of Miss Pickering (Accordion)
Bred by Dr John Waldron
How proud the late Dr John Waldron would be to see Faugheen win a Grade 1 chase at one of the principal racing festivals at the age of 12.
Sold as a foal in a private deal for only €4,000 at Tattersalls Ireland, he resold at the Goffs Land Rover Sale for €12,000. With over £1.1 million banked now he is a point-to-point and bumper winner who has amassed 13 hurdle and three chase victories, 11 at Grade 1 level. These include the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.
A half-brother to a bumper winner and a point-to-point winner, you have to go back to his fourth dam to find a Group 3 winner in Italy.
Germany is also the sire of high-class runners Samcro, Captain Cee Bee, Conna Castle, Mood Over Germany and Tiger Cry.
Glamorgan Duke (IRE)
2013 g. by Flemensfirth (Alleged) out of Dunahall Queen (Saddler’s Hall)
Bred by David O’Brennan
Another big race winner from a family full of them, Glamorgan Duke was purchased at the Derby Sale four years ago by Paul Gilligan for €20,000. This win was, incredibly, his first success. He thus becomes the first winner for his dam, an unraced half-sister to Grade 1 winning chaser and twice placed in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Harbour Pilot (Be My Native), and to the dams of River Wylde (Oscar) and Get Me Out Of Here (Accordion), both graded winners and placed at Grade 1 level in Cheltenham.
Another half-sister bred the Grade 2 Paddy Power Chase winner Living Next Door (Beneficial). Glamorgan Duke’s third dam was the hurdler Synarria (Guillaume Tell) and she is grandam of Monty’s Pass (Montelimar), the Aintree Grand National hero.
Darling Daughter (IRE)
2014 f. by Presenting (Mtoto) out of Premier Victory (Winged Love)
Bred by Fergal Duncan (right)
The Grade 2 bumper winner Darling Daughter is out of a mare who won Grade 3 novice hurdles at Down Royal and Cork. She was purchased by Fergal Duncan for €44,000 in 2012 and her first foal is now a blacktype winner. Darling Daughter was bought by Rathbarry Stud for €19,000 as a foal, sold to Monbeg Stables for €30,000 at the Derby Sale, won a point-to-point and sold to Mags O’Toole for €82,000 at the Cheltenham April Sale last year.
In 2017 Rathbarry gave €48,000 for the now three-year-old full-brother to Darling Daughter. Premier Victory is an own-sister to the Midlands Grand National winner and Welsh Grand National-placed Firebord Flyer (Winged Love). What a relief for Fergal Duncan that he retained the then Youmzain colt foal out of Premier Victory last year when bidding reached €2,000.