GETABIRD A FIRST CROP STAR FOR GETAWAY
Dual Group 1 winner and Grange Stud stallion Getaway (by Monsun) has made an eye-catching start and his first crop, which turned six years old at the start of the month, features Getabird.
A winner on the second of his two starts in point-to-points, he took his two bumpers by a combined margin of over 13 lengths, made a winning debut over hurdles at Punchestown in December, and extended his unbeaten record under National Hunt rules to four with a nine-length defeat of Mengli Khan at that same venue on Saturday.
The race was the Grade 2 Sky Bet Moscow Flyer Novice Hurdle over two miles and this Willie Mullins-trained bay looks likely to score at the highest level before long.
He was bred by Pat Connell of Peria Stud and his €200,000 price tag at the Goffs Punchestown Sale came five days after that sole point-to-point success.
He is the first foal out of Fern Bird (by Revoque), who pulled-up in her only start in a point-to-point, and his siblings include a first-crop Ocovango (by Monsun) colt that made €23,000 as a foal in Fairyhouse.
Fern Bird's half-brother Charlie Stout (by Spadoun) was short-headed in a Grade B handicap hurdle at Down Royal in November and that Shane Nolan-trained gelding is also a half-brother to Relentless Dreamer (by Kayf Tara) whose most recent of four wins over fences came over three miles at Ludlow in late December.
Their dam was unraced but she, Full Of Elegance (by Cadoudal), is a full-sister to blacktype-winning hurdler and producer Full Contact and a half-sister to a string of notable horses.
Full Of Ambition (by Galetto) won the Grade 2 Prix Amadou Hurdle and was runner-up in the Grade 1 Grande Course de Haies d'Auteuil (French Champion Hurdle), and both Aubisque (by R B Chesne) and Fioca (by Balsamo), who won 16 races between them, were blacktype scorers over hurdles in France.
The latter is also notable as being an ancestor of Grade 1 chase star J'y Vole (by Mansonnien).
And then there's Libertina, a one-time winner on the track and full-sister to Fioca, but famous as being the dam of Grade 1 Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Long Run (by Cadoudal) and his Grade 3 Mildmay of Flete Chase-winning half-sister Liberthine (by Chamberlin).
Getabird is clearly a highly talented young hurdler, but with his family connections there is every reason to hope that he could go on to become a Grade 1 star over fences, potentially a Cheltenham Gold Cup candidate of the future.
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MAHLER MARE SHOWS POTENTIAL
Classic and Melbourne Cup-placed pattern winner Mahler (by Galileo) is a member of the team at Beeches Stud and his second-crop daughter Ms Parfois has looked an exciting prospect over fences this season.
A Grade 2-placed dual winner over hurdles early last year, the Anthony Honeyball-trained chesnut finished third on her chasing debut at Uttoxeter in November but, since then, has completed a hat-trick that includes listed races at Newbury and Warwick.
The latter was on Saturday when she jumped well – one particularly good leap even earning likes and shares on Twitter – to take the three-mile Betfred Home Of Goals Galore Hampton Novices' Chase by five lengths.
The seven-year-old, who also has bumper and point-to-point success to her name, was bred by William and Daryl Deacon and she joined her current connections when sold for £50,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham January Sale two years ago.
She is a half-sister to the winning hurdlers Mr Picotee (by Heron Island) and Carrigready (by Craigsteel) and she is out of Dolly Lewis (by Sir Harry Lewis), an unraced half-sister to bumper, hurdle and multiple chase scorer Falcon Island (by Turtle Island).
Dolly Sparks (by Electric), the grandam of Ms Parfois, ran once in a point-to-point but is a half-sister to the Grade 2-winning chaser Queen Of Spades (by Strong Gale) and also to the dams of blacktype-winning chasers Pires (by Generous) and Heathfield (by Definite Article) and of Grade 1 hurdles star Pettifour (by Supreme Leader).
These are the highlights of the most recent generations of Ms Parfois's pedigree, but if you go back another step then you find that her unraced third dam, Affordthe Queen (by Pitpan), was a full-sister to Power Gold Cup star Garamycin and to Galway Plate scorer Afford A King, and a half-sister to the prolific Dark Dawn (by Pollerton).
Ms Parfois was raised to a handicap mark of 146 after this latest victory, which suggests that graded success is within her compass, and it will be fascinating to see how much higher she can climb as a chaser before eventually going on to what could be a notable career at stud.
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RISING STARS FOR FLEMENSFIRTH
Beeches Stud veteran Flemensfirth (by Alleged) has notched up a lot of winners already in 2018 and they include Invitation Only and Waiting Patiently who were blacktype scorers over fences on Saturday.
The Willie Mullins-trained Invitation Only justified favouritism in the Grade 3 Total Event Rental (Kildare) Novice Chase over two and a half miles at Punchestown, his second win from three starts over the larger obstacles.
He was sold by breeder Seamus McKeogh for €17,500 in Fairyhouse as a foal and returned to the venue two and a half years later to make €40,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale.
His dam, a winner on the flat and over jumps in France, is called Norabelle (by Alamo Bay) and she is a half-sister to the Group 3 Prix de Barbeville winner and Group 2 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier runner-up Usuelo (by Epalo).
She can also be described as being a three-parts sister to her dam's sibling Oh Calin (by Alamo Bay) who was a Grade 1-placed, French Grade 3 winner over fences.
Invitation Only was one of four winners on that Punchestown card for Flemensfirth.
Waiting Patiently extended his unbeaten record over fences to five with victory at Kempton.
The Malcolm Jefferson-trained seven-year-old took the Listed 32Red Casino Chase by eight lengths, adding to prior listed success over a half-furlong less at Carlisle in November and a Grade 2 defeat of Politologue at Haydock 12 months ago, also over two and a half miles.
The June-born bay was bred by Vincent Finn, who sold him for €16,000 as a three-year-old at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale.
His year-older full-brother is the sadly ill-fated Dan Skelton-trained bumper and hurdle winner Walking In The Air and his now four-year-old Milan (by Sadler's Wells) half-brother made €88,000 at last year's edition of the Derby Sale.
Their dam, an unraced mare named Rossavon (by Beneficial), is a half-sister to several winners, notably Yankee Jamie (by Strong Gale), Jo Jo Boy (by Good Thyne) and Ciara's Prince (by Good Thyne) who between them won 17 times under National Hunt rules.
Grandam Sparkling Opera (by Orchestra), a half-sister to the blacktype-placed five-time scorer Glen Money (by Le Moss), is an unraced daughter of the placed mare Shining Jug (by Deep Run), and so is out of a sibling of two horses of particular note.
The Dessie Hughes-trained Miller Hill (by Green Shoon) won the Supreme Novices' Hurdle at Cheltenham in 1982 and Deep Shine (by Deep Run) is both the hurdle-winning dam of star performer Mighty Mogul (by Good Thyne) and ancestor of the blacktype winners Court Leader (by Supreme Leader), Line Ball (by Good Thyne), Mae's Choice (by Presenting) and Ballynagour (by Shantou).
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BENEFICIAL REMINDER
Knockhouse Stud's outstanding National Hunt stallion Beneficial (by Top Ville) died in 2013 and his loss was advertised when Mr Whipped, from his penultimate crop, extended his unbeaten victory with Grade 2 success at Warwick on Saturday.
The race was the Ballymore Leamington Novices' Hurdle over two miles and five furlongs, the Nicky Henderson-trained five-year-old was the favourite, and it was his third start.
An €18,500 foal and €26,000 Derby Sale graduate, both in Fairyhouse, he made £160,000 at the Tattersalls Ireland Cheltenham Festival Sale of 2017, just days after his winning debut in a Lingstown point-to-point.
He was bred by the Sgeal Shee Syndicate, his siblings include a Stowaway (by Slip Anchor) filly who made €25,000 in Part 2 of the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale last June, and he is out of the Grade B Lartigue Hurdle heroine Dyrick Daybreak.
A multiple winner on the flat and over hurdles, that daughter of Group 1 Sussex Stakes winner Ali-Royal (by Royal Academy) is a half-sister to the blacktype-placed jumper Dalian Dawn (by Topanoora) and her dam, Lovely Deise (by Tate Gallery) is out of a full-sister to the high-class dual-purpose gelding Spinning (by Glint Of Gold).
Lovely Deise is also the grandam of the Nicky Henderson-trained Verdana Blue (by Getaway) who finished third in a Grade 3 handicap hurdle at Ascot in late December and was listed-placed at Cheltenham in April.
It remains to be seen just how good Mr Whipped will be at his peak, but this unbeaten and now 146-rated gelding could be anything.
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GRADE 3 WIN FOR MILANSBAR
When Milansbar notched up an 11-length win in the Grade 3 Betfred Classic Handicap Chase at Warwick on Saturday he completed a double in the race for Grange Stud's classic star Milan (by Sadler's Wells), the stallion who gave us 2017's winner One For Arthur.
That horse went on to add the Grade 3 Grand National at Aintree a few months later, and with a handicap mark of 143, Milansbar is just 5lbs below the one to which One For Arthur was raised after his six-length win in the three-mile, five-furlong contest.
The Neil King-trained 11-year-old, who was ridden by the notably successful 5lb claimer Bryony Frost, was bred by T J Wyatt.
His multiple-winning siblings include eight-time chase scorer Bertenbar (by Bertolini) and his dam, Ardenbar (by Ardross), won over fences at Fakenham when rated just 77.
She comes from a branch of the family of the prolific Ida's Delight (by Idiot's Delight), but her relationship to that Castleford Chase winner is remote.
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LANZAROTE SUCCESS FOR KING'S SON
Ballylinch Stud's late star National Hunt stallion King's Theatre (by Sadler's Wells) was in the news again at the weekend when William Henry landed the Listed 32Red Lanzarote Handicap Hurdle over two miles and five furlongs at Kempton.
The Nicky Henderson-trained eight-year-old was bred by Michael Carroll and this was his third win from five starts over the smaller obstacles, adding to a record of two from three in bumpers.
He made €60,000 as a yearling at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale, he is out of the multiple flat winner Cincuenta (by Bob Back) and his siblings include two of note.
Full-brother Electric Concorde is a listed-placed bumper and dual hurdle winner for the Jim Culloty stable and their full-sister is the highly talented Sesenta, a former member of the Willie Mullins team.
A Grade B and Grade C winner over hurdles, she was also a multiple winner on the flat and her biggest success on the level was in the Ebor Handicap at York, just a few weeks before the final outing of her career, when among the market leaders but unplaced in the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes at Doncaster.
All three of their dam's siblings were winners, including the Grade 1-winning hurdler Strangely Brown (by Second Empire), and their grandam, Damerela (by Alzao), was a half-sister to Daltawa (by Miswaki), the stakes-winning dam of the prolific Group 1 stars Daylami (by Doyoun) and Dalakhani (by Darshaan).
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NEW BLACKTYPE WINNER FOR DR MASSINI
Late Dunraven Stud stallion Dr Massini (by Sadler's Wells), who previously stood at Beeches Stud, added to his blacktype tally when Doctor Phoenix won the Grade A Bar One Racing Dan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase at Fairyhouse on Sunday.
The Gordon Elliott-trained 10-year-old, who was bred by John O'Donovan, is the first foal out of Lowland Cross (by Anshan), an unplaced full-sister to Crooked Throw.
He won the Irish Lincolnshire at the Curragh, was short-headed in a valuable premier handicap at the Galway Festival, and was listed-placed at Tipperary, also over a mile.
Doctor Phoenix's third dam, Financial Burden (by Mandalus), was a half-sister to Harveysland (by Beau Charmeur), a multiple winner who finished third to Destriero in the Morgiana Hurdle at Punchestown.