HAVING headed to Australia for a month’s holiday immediately after Christmas, Wexford event rider Lucy Latta missed seeing Small Farm, the first racehorse she has bred, win on his hurdling debut at Limerick last Saturday.

The 2012 Westerner gelding is out of the point-to-point winner Eastertide who was gifted to Lucy by her maternal grandfather Bill Powell-Harris who had already bred four foals out of the now deceased 1996 daughter of Alphabatim.

Best of that quartet was a full-brother to Small Farm, the 2009 gelding Stilletto who was saddled by Lucy’s brother Andrew to win a point-to-point maiden at Maralin in November 2014, on his only start between the flags.

Then running in Bill’s colours, the bay was sold later that month at one of Tattersalls’ Cheltenham sales for €130,000 to owner Roger Brookhouse for whom he won a hurdle and two chases before suffering a fatal fall two years later.

Working together at the family’s Ballinakill Stables, Lucy and Andrew consigned Small Farm as a three-year-old to Tattersalls Ireland’s 2015 Derby Sale where he was knocked down for €62,000 to their neighbour Sean Doyle of Monbeg Stables.

Small Farm had just one point-to-point start for Doyle, winning a five-year-old geldings’ maiden at Ballinaboola in February 2017 after which he was sold privately into Willie Mullins’ yard.

The bay, who is now owned by Sullivan Bloodstock, failed to win in three bumper outings so was let go off at 14/1 on Saturday when he recorded a neck victory under the former pony and junior international event rider Katie O’Farrell.

Lucy and Andrew are looking forward to running Small Farm’s 2014 half-brother Doubleubee (by Yeats) in the spring point-to-points and have retained a 2015 Westerner gelding and a 2016 Yeats gelding out of Eastertide.

Lucy will resume riding out for Andrew on her return from Australia as well as applying to do a Masters at UCD and preparing three horses for the event season. She is very much looking forward to his return from injury of her mother Yvonne’s DHI Broadway.