EARLY this week, it was a good time to catch Cork breeder Frank Motherway. Not only had the Rebels pulled off a last gasp, smash-and-grab win against Kerry, but Motherway and his hardworking family were also still basking in the latest potential star to emerge from his Yellowford Farm, impressive Tipperary fillies bumper winner Party Central.

“Twas some game alright and some goal. You wouldn’t mind seeing those Kerry faces turned upside down alright,” Motherway says with a laugh. Spoken like a true Cork man.

And in true Cork style, Party Central, owned by Motherway’s wife Liz, wore the red and white colours to victory at Tipperary, earning the family a well overdue first ¤5,000 Weatherbys ITBA National Hunt Fillies bonus. It was overdue because although the Motherway’s modus operandi is to breed and sell, Frank himself was one of the instigators of the seriously successful scheme, as an active member of the ITBA Council and ITBA National Hunt committee.

“We’d usually be going to the sales with them but Colin (son) liked her a lot and wanted to kick on,” Motherway says. “Our initial plan was to go the point-to-point route and then maybe go over to Cheltenham for the sale that is usually on there this weekend but Colin thought she was above that level again so we decided to go to the track with her and it worked out well with a nice fillies’ race.

“Jamie Codd who rode her, loved her beforehand and he was praying that Gordon Elliott wouldn’t have another runner in the race. It’s worked out well because we received a very nice offer for her and decided to sell on. She has been bought by Noel and Valerie Moran and will go into training with Gordon now.”

Ideal situation

It is the ideal situation for Motherway who still has the dam (Itsalark) at home and she is among 40 other mares, split between two bases. Naturally he is a huge advocate of the fillies’ bonus scheme and says the general picture for fillies has flipped completely in the last decade.

“Without question, it’s a completely different game now,” he asserted. “The bonus is a huge incentive for people to put mares in training or indeed buy them at the sales. The programme has improved no end. You rarely see fillies take on colts and geldings on the flat and there should be the same amount of opportunities for them over jumps.

“If you’re going buying a filly now, you can race her for her career and if she does well, she’s going to be worth something at the end. Take for example, Apple’s Jade, what is she going to get at the sales next month? She could easily get €300,000.

“A gelding is worth little to nothing when he’s finished. So if you have a mare and she goes alright, you can sell her on when you’re finished and then you have the money to go again. The residual value is a huge thing.

“I think they should market that even more. That is a message that needs to be clear because it’s a great incentive for prospective owners.”

The mares’ chase at Cheltenham has divided opinion somewhat but the National Hunt breeders are naturally hugely in favour and Motherway would go so far as to say there should be a mares’ Gold Cup, perhaps at the Punchestown Festival.

In the near future, the man who bred Bellshill, is coming up to his busiest time of the year with 22 set to go for sale at the rescheduled November National Hunt Sale, now starting on December 12th, and 10 at the November Foal Sale at Goffs, scheduled for December 18th.

Motherway is optimistic heading into the sales in spite of a turbulent year. He said: “There’s a lot of uncertainty about it, there is no doubt about that but for the top foals, I think it will be alright. We’ll probably see a drop to some degree but hopefully not too much. I’m kind of confident enough having seen the way Book 2 went at Newmarket as regards to the flat foals. That held up really well and I’m hopeful that the top National Hunt should match that.”

As ever, the selection from Yellowford Farm is brimming with star quality.

“We’ve got five Walk In The Park colts and he’s red hot at the minute,” Motherway said. “We’ve got one out of Hurricane Fly’s half-sister Blixt (by Walk In The Park) and we’ve got one who is a half-brother to a good young horse in Paul Nicholls’s called Shearer who was second on his first run at Hereford last week. We’ve got one from the Bellshill family as well, a good colt out of Bellshill’s sister.

“We’ve also got a good Getaway colt out of a mare called Bella Venezia. He’s a half-brother to a blacktype mare called Vegas Blue. We’re looking forward to seeing how he gets on as well.”