WHEN owner/breeder Robert Hennelly’s Moskovite won her mares’ beginners chase at Sligo late last month, she joined a select club. She became only the sixth ever triple ITBA Weatherbys National Hunt Mares Bonus winner, having earlier in her career won a mares’ bumper and mares’ maiden hurdle.

That means the daughter of Flemensfirth has added on €15,000 in bonuses to the approximate €45,000 she has won on the track and she is not finished yet.

The mares’ bonus is there to reward owners who race their mares and it has been hugely influential in the last five years with the quality of mares’ races continuing to rise. However, while the bonus has influenced many, it should be pointed out that Hennelly was willing to take a chance on mares long before this excellent incentive.

In 2007, the Co Mayo native bought Savitha. Trained by Paul Nolan, she won five times and earned multiple blacktype over fences, including a Grade 1 second in the Irish Arkle at Leopardstown. Not long after, Hennelly invested further into the family, purchasing Savitha’s half-sister Wind Over Water who went on to produce the very well known Solita. She was another blacktype mare, winning seven times from 30 runs, including a hugely impressive win in a valuable novice handicap chase at the 2016 Easter Festival at Fairyhouse.

“I didn’t really understand why mares were unfashionable at the time,” Hennelly says. “A few of the big names were keeping mares but a lot of people didn’t want anything to do with a mare. For me, it made perfect sense, a mare with ability was a long term investment, even if she got injured on the track, you could keep her at home and breed from her. They could last 15 years.

“Two-thirds of a horse comes from the dam’s side. It’s hugely important to go out and prove these mares on the track but also, the reward has to be there. That’s what the mares’ bonus is there for and that’s why it’s great to see so many mares’ races on the calendar.”

Breeding

Hennelly’s father was a keen racing man and having been brought up on a farm where there was a couple of horses around, he was always interested in breeding. Now he breeds from the mares he keeps at home and the aim is to keep developing each band.

His most significant purchase, on and off the track, was probably Moskova, who won nine times in all – on the flat, over hurdles and over fences, where she won three Grade 3 races.

She is a perfect example of the effectiveness of a good mare because having produced quality when racing right up to when she was retired as a nine-year-old, she is now imparting that quality into her offspring, having produced Moskovite and Moyhenna, who won at this year’s Punchestown Festival.

Both of those mares, trained by Denis Hogan, have already achieved blacktype, indeed Moyhenna was 25-length winner of a Grade 2 chase. Some owner/breeders might be keen to head to breeding shed but, touch wood, both mares will run for Hennelly this season.

“The races are there for them now,” he says. “They have the potential to improve the family line further so why not keep going. Moyhenna could be a Grand National horse. She is big, genuine, easy to deal with and she travels really well.

“Moskovite is a bit more fiery, she is by Flemensfirth, but she has loads of ability. Moskova raced until she was nine. She was a very sound mare and it’s so important to have that sort of longevity proven.

“We have another half-sister by Rock Of Gibraltar coming along nicely as well. She’ll be out next year and could be anything. We also have another from the Solita family and another from one of other mares River Mill to run as well.

“We’ve a lot to look forward to. People always ask you about Cheltenham and it’s great that there is new mares’ chase going to be held there but I wouldn’t be keen on travelling over there unless I felt we had a real chance of winning.

“There are so many options for mares at home now, you’d need a good reason to forego them.”