TIMING is everything so Lisbane Park’s win at Exeter last Friday could not have been more opportune for Eric Pele, son Leo and daughter Harriet who were selling the four-year-old’s half-sister as Lot 655 in Wednesday’s foal section of Tattersalls Ireland’s November National Hunt Sale.

The May-foaled filly by Jukebox Jury, already named Lisbane Elvene, and the Exeter winner, a son of Walk In The Park, are out of the Footstepsinthesand mare Loussia who won seven races in her native France where she was also Listed-placed. Lisbane Park is her fourth foal, the first being the 2016 Montmartre mare De Novo who has been placed over jumps in France.

Lisbane Park and Lisbane Elvene carry an IRE suffix but the mare’s other produce were foaled in France as she is owned by Eric in partnership with Patrice Bourreau who, before getting into thoroughbreds, stood many top performance sires and bred such talented show jumpers as the Quick Star stallion Orient Express HDC (CSI5*).

Lisbane Park was sold for €40,000 as a foal at Tattersalls to Norman and Janet Williamson’s Oak Tree Farm. When he finished second on his sole run in a point-to-point at Lisronagh in March, the bay ran in the colours of Janet’s mother Trish and was trained by Denis Hogan. He was sold at Goffs Aintree Sale in early April for £110,000 to bloodstock agent Ross Doyle and trainer Joe Tizzard for whom he won on his track debut last week.

Eric has two Irish Sport Horse mares, the 2012 Pacino grey Lisbane Pacina, who was bred by Peter Rice out of the Cruising mare Bob A Long Cruz, and the year younger Lisbane Haka, an Arturo 8 grey who was bred by George McCullagh out of High Offley Miss Arko (by Arko III). The best show jumper Eric has bred himself to date is the Luke Devlin-ridden 14-year-old ISH gelding Lisbane Aladdin (Lougherne Cashell - Lisbane Miss Clover, by Gelvin Clover).

Breeding is really just a passionate hobby for Eric who is, of course, the man behind Eric Pele Equestrian and the very popular grass and all-weather cross-country training and competition facility outside Saintfield.

Show jumping competitor, owner, mother, trainer, safety officer and reporter Dale Adams also bred a track winner by Walk In the Park last week when the Mike Sowersby-trained El Muchacho defied his odds of 33/1 to land the two-mile, five-furlong handicap chase at Sedgefield on the Thursday.