TWO years ago Balnaslow was third to Road To Riches in the Galway Plate. This year his younger full-brother Lord Scoundrel made amends and landed the Tote Ireland sponsored feature at Ballybrit. Keeping the family in the picture at the summer festival meeting, their half-sister Shandon Star, a daughter of Priolo, was runner-up in the Galway Hurdle some years ago.

All of these winners are out of Noble Choice and she was a useful racemare when trained by Sean Treacy. She won three times on the flat and the same number of times over hurdles and she got blacktype when finishing third to Hi Handsome in the Lartigue Hurdle at Listowel. She was a daughter of Dahar, one of the four Grade 1 winning offspring of the brilliant racemare Dahlia.

Lord Scoundrel won a Grade 3 chase last year and in so doing gave his dam her first blacktype winner. This was well overdue as she is responsible for three other winners who were placed in such races. Missing from any previous mention was the Titus Livius gelding Show Blessed and he was placed in the Foxrock Chase at Leopardstown.

While this arm of the family tree has gone and done well in National Hunt racing, the pedigree traces back to one more used to producing top-class winners on the flat. Lord Scoundrel’s third dam Everything Nice won the Cherry Hinton Stakes at two and the Musidora Stakes the following season, as well as finishing runner-up in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.

Everything Nice was a prolific winner producer, headed by the Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Nicer. She is also the grandam of Passing Sale, winner of the Group 1 Premio del Jockey Club in Italy and runner-up in the Prix Ganay in France. Another grandson is the smart South African runner Keeneland Gold.

Lord Scoundrel was bred by Patrick O’Reilly and sold by him as a yearling at Tattersalls Ireland to Kevin O’Brien for €30,000. When he was resold as a three-year-old it was at the Derby Sale and he made profit, realising €62,000. He was bought by Harold Kirk and Willie Mullins, and ironically denied that trainer another win in the Galway Plate. He was sold from Sunnyhill Stud at the Derby Sale, the source of previous Plate winner Road To Riches.

Breeders, stallion masters and readers are invited to contact Leo Powell at leopowell@theirishfield.ie with news and updates for the column, and to visit our website www.theirishfield.ie for daily breeding news