IT was quite a breeding double for John and Paula Davison this week. Not only did they produce the Listed Woodlands Stakes winner Mooneista, but they are also the parents of the winning trainer, Jack.

The young handler, based at the family’s famed Killarkin Stud in Co Meath, was enjoying the best win of his fledgling career with this three-year-old daughter of Ballyhane Stud’s flagbearer Dandy Man (Mozart). This was the filly’s tenth start, her second win, and she has only been out of the first three twice.

Last year Mooneista showed that she was well above average when she placed in the Listed First Flier Stakes at the Curragh and was third in the hugely competitive and highly valuable Ballyhane Stakes, also run at Naas. Her stakes win was a delight for all of the Davison family and now they can dream big and have the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot in their sights.

This is the second daughter of Moon Unit that Jack has successfully trained. He won a couple of times with Mooneista’s own-sister Miacomet (Dandy Man), and now he will be hoping for a treble with their two-year-old half-sister. She is named Sloanstar and is a daughter of another Ballyhane sire, Elzaam (Redoute’s Choice), responsible for last year’s Group 1 winner Champers Elysees.

Fingers crossed

As Mooneista was winning at Naas, John Davison was making tracks to Leighlinbridge and Joe Foley’s farm. He was bringing Moon Unit, just turned 20 this year, for a mating with Ballyhane’s new kid on the block, Soldier’s Call (Showcasing). Fingers crossed for a successful outcome.

Moon Unit, a daughter of Intikhab (Red Ransom), was bred by Ivan Allen and sold as a foal to Anthony Stroud Bloodstock for £18,000 at Goffs. When we saw her next she was offered as a yearling at the Orby Sale and, now selling in euros, she failed to find a buyer at €38,000. That proved to be a godsend for the Davisons.

Put in training with Harry Rogers and carrying the colours of Paula, Moon Unit raced for four seasons, won six times and five of these were in blacktype races. The most important was the Group 3 Weatherbys Ireland Greenlands Stakes at the Curragh, beating the Barry Hills-trained favourite Moss Vale, while her final win was in the Woodlands Stakes at Naas and that day she beat Mooneista’s sire Dandy Man!

Speedy

All of Moon Unit’s six wins were over five or six furlongs, and her full-brother Three Way Stretch (Intikhab) and half-sister Cupids Charm (Cadeaux Genereux) were both placed in listed sprints. They are from a speedy branch of a great female family, one more associated with milers and classic winners. Moon Unit’s dam Chapka (Green Desert) was a half-sister to the Irish and French Derby winner Old Vic (Sadler’s Wells).

Old Vic was the best of seven winners from Cockade (Derring-Do), herself a full-sister to the 2000 Guineas winner High Top and the Jersey Stakes winner Camden Town, both successful sires. A recent star from this family is the 2019 Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes winner Millisle (Starspangledbanner).

Mooneista is the second stakes-winning three-year-old daughter in 2021 of Dandy Man, sire of three Group 1 winners, one of which, River Boyne, is a newcomer to the ranks at Tara Stud.

DAY one of the 2021 Punchestown Festival was headlined by a trio of Grade 1 races. For me, and many more, the star of the day was Colreevy.

What a joy for the Flynn family, in particular Niall, that this exemplary mare should end her racing career on such a high. She was recently covered by Walk In The Park (Montjeu), the sire of Douvan and Min.

Colreevy will now join the broodmare band at Five Naughts Stud, near Dungarvan, and this daughter of Flemensfirth (Alleged) is one of the best advertisements for racing a mare or filly. She goes to stud as a Grade 1 bumper winner, an unbeaten chaser who won twice at Grade 1 level, and she has a Cheltenham Festival victory to boot. She is the best of six winners for her dam Poetics Girl (Saddlers’ Hall), and the others include the Grade A Munster National winner Spider Web (Presenting).

It was a memorable day for Willie Mullins and his five wins on Tuesday included all three Grade 1 races. The others were gained with a pair of French-breds, the five-year-old Echoes Of Rain (Authorized) and Chacun Pour Soi (Policy Maker).

The Irish connection to the latter is that her sire, a four-time Group 2 winning son of Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer), stands at Peter Maher’s Blackrath Stud, a famous farm for stallions in the days of Peter’s grandfather Frank Latham. This was a fifth Grade 1 win for Chacun Pour Soi, and he is the second Grade 1 winner sired by Policy Maker.

Chacun Pour Soi is out of a Grade 3 winning hurdler at Auteuil, Kruscyna (Ultimately Lucky), while Echoes Of Rain can lay claim to being a daughter of a listed chase winner, Amarantine (King’s Best). Echoes In Rain shares her sire with Tiger Roll, Nichols Canyon and Goshen, as well as a number of Group 1 winners on the flat including last year’s Irish Derby winner Santiago.

Thierry Storme

In France Echoes In Rain won for her breeder Thierry Storme. He also owned her dam Amarantine who won some €250,000. Echoes In Rain is her first foal, and she has a three-year-old filly Saintamarin (Saint Des Saints) who has already been placed over jumps, and a two-year-old colt by Kapgarde (Garde Royale).

It was a great day for Victor Connolly of Burgage Stud. He watched as his homebred Jazzaway won the Grade B Killashee Handicap Hurdle. The six-year-old mare is leased but she will be a most valuable broodmare, being a blacktype winning full-sister to the Grade 1 bumper and hurdle winner Briar Hill (Shantou). He won the Weatherbys Champion Bumper at Cheltenham in 2013.

Their dam Backaway (Bob Back) is now dam of four winners and all are by Shantou who is enjoying his retirement at Burgage. This is an exceptional female line. Backaway is an own-sister to the Punchestown Gold Cup winner Boston Bob (Bob Back), and their dam is a half-sister to Danny Harrold (Deep Run).

Bumpers

The two bumper winners are from very different backgrounds. The Goffs Land Rover bumper was won by the Martin Kenirons-bred Adamantly Chosen. This son of Kedrah House Stud’s Well Chosen (Sadler’s Wells) sold as a foal to Peter Molony for €20,000 but left no profit when reselling for €24,000 to Willie Mullins at the Land Rover Sale. However, Peter will now get to drive a smart vehicle thanks to this win.

A half-brother to Kylcrue (Gold Well), a 12-time winner who never managed what would have been a well-deserved blacktype win, this is the family of Grade 1 winners Adamant Approach (Mandalus), Ballyadam Approach (Bob Back), Feathered Gale (Strong Gale) and many other good chasers.

The Irish Field-sponsored bumper went to the Emmet Mullins-owned and trained Crowns Major. Bred in Japan, he twice failed to sell, as a yearling and a two-year-old at public auction. He is the sixth winner for his winning dam who is a granddaughter of the American champion two- and three-year-old filly it’s In The Air (Mr Prospector).

Crowns Major is a son of the Japanese champion sprinter and miler Daiwa Major (Sunday Silence) and he is the sire of six Group 1 winners on the flat.

Rothwell double

Philip Rothwell trained two winners on the opening day of the Festival, and with horses bought for less than €2,000 each. Cousin Harry won the opener and this son of Resplendent Cee (Polar Falcon) is his sire’s only winner under rules. He is a half-brother to the four-time Grade 1 winner Unowhatimeanharry (Sir Harry Lewis), twice successful at that level at Punchestown. Francis Small bred Cousin Harry who sold at Goresbridge as a three-year-old for €1,800.

The Ladies Cup was won by Singing Banjo, an 11-year-old gaining his first racecourse win, having won two point-to-points. His breeder Joe Cunningham sold him as a four-year-old at the Tattersalls Ireland August Sale for €1,600 to Aaron Walsh. The son of dual Derby winner Generous (Caerleon) is from the family of Grade 1 winning-hurdler Mister Banjo (Mister Mat).