LOTS of things can make a horse memorable, and although it was a visible legacy of an old injury that caught my eye first, it was her personality that made ‘Dani’ one of my favourites during my time at the Irish National Stud.

Daniella Drive (by Shelter Half) won 12 of her 60 starts in the USA, her first foal was the Group 3 Diomed Stakes winner Blomberg (by Indian Ridge), three of his siblings were also multiple winners, and one of them has become a broodmare of note.

Dani Ridge is Blomberg’s full-sister, she won over six furlongs at Catterick, Chester and Ripon, missed out on blacktype when fourth behind Tante Rose in the Listed Cecil Frail Stakes at Haydock, and her final handicap mark of 82 was just a few pounds below her career peak.

Seven progeny of Dani Ridge have raced, all seven have won, four of them are blacktype earners, and at Newmarket on Saturday she emulated her dam’s feat of having a pattern winner at a major meeting.

Profitable (by Invincible Spirit) won the Group 3 Pearl Bloodstock Palace House Stakes, he is trained by Clive Cox and was bred by Con Harrington. The Harringtons also bred Blomberg and Dani Ridge and, of course, all of Profitable’s siblings.

UNLUCKY

His 103-rated half-sister Ridge Runner (by Bushranger) is unlucky not to have a pattern win to her name as the Eric Alston-trained five-year-old was beaten by just a nose in the Group 3 Dubai International Airport World Trophy over five furlongs at Newbury in September.

That came three weeks after she finished third behind Maarek in a listed contest at Beverley, and her recent entries include this afternoon’s Listed EBF Stallions Weatherbys General Stud Book Kilvington Fillies’ Stakes at Nottingham.

BIG CHEQUE

Full Mandate (by Acclamation) was runner-up in the Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes as a juvenile and earned a big cheque when filling the same position in the Goffs Million Sprint at the Curragh two months later.

The fourth of the blacktype siblings is the Group 3 Albany Stakes third Danidh Dubai (by Noverre), and as her first runners are the stakes-placed Nabhan (by Youmzain) and prolific German scorer Gamgoom (by Exceed And Excel), she has made a promising start at stud.

RUNNERS

Dani Ridge’s three other runners have won 13 races between them; four for Badr Al Badoor (by Acclamation), four for Ridge Wood Dani (by Invincible Spirit) and five for Invincible Ridge (by Invincible Spirit).

Her three-year-old is a gelding named Acclaim The Nation (by Acclamation), her two-year-old Mastercraftsman (by Danehill Dancer) filly was bought back for 110,000gns in Newmarket in October, and she had another full-brother to Badr Al Badoor in 2015. Profitable, who made 95,000gns in Newmarket as a yearling, represents a prolific family and as he is now a pattern-winning son of Invincible Spirit (by Green Desert) he looks likely to attract some attention as a potential stallion.