EVERY now and again, looking into the family of a horse I have chosen to review, I go down something of a rabbit hole, or unearth an interesting story about a horse or a sire. This is the case with the recent Grade 2 Prix Georges de Talhouet Roy Hurdle winner Varsovie.

Bred by Joel Denis and Christian Bresson, Varsovie (the French word for Warsaw) is trained by Dominique Bresson and races for the leading jumps owner in France, Nicole Papot. She races her horses as Mrs Patrick Papot. The son of Estejo (Johan Cruyff) is a three-year-old gelding who made an inauspicious start to his race career.