REMEMBER Bachir and Speciosa?

Classic winners in Ireland and Britain, they were bred by Kevin and Meta Cullen who own Middlelane Stud, and run it with their family. The couple came close to also breeding a French classic winner with Irish Cookie. They were a few years ago now, but the couple are back in the news, thanks to the Grade 1 winner Ocean Road.

A four-year-old daughter of Australia (Galileo), Ocean Road gained her second US success when she landed the spoils in the Gamely Stakes at Santa Anita, and the Qatar Racing-owned filly is now in the care of Brendan Walsh. In England she was trained by Hugo Palmer and was group-placed. Ocean Road is a fifth Group/Grade 1 winner for Australia, and the first filly. That group includes Broome, Galileo Chrome, Order Of Australia and Mare Australis.

Kevin and Meta bred this latest top-level winner from Love And Laughter, a winning daughter of Theatrical (Nureyev) out of Hoh Dear (Sri Pekan), herself the only foal from the stakes-placed Miss Kristin (Alzao). Love And Laughter was bought through Emerald Bloodstock, then owned and run by Brendan and Olive Gallagher, for 50,000gns, though it was the Cullens who picked her out.

Bred by Roundhill Stud and Nicholas Stringer, Love And Laughter was a €60,000 yearling buy, and so her purchase price by Kevin and Meta was good value, especially as she was carrying her first foal by High Chaparral (Sadler’s Wells), and that year his fee was €25,000. The colt she was carrying turned out to be Wigmore Hall, a dual Grade 1 winner of the Northern Dancer Turf Stakes at Woodbine His successes in England, Canada and the UAE earned his owners more than £1.3 million and, naturally, fuelled plenty of sales interest in the subsequent progeny of Love And Laughter.

Sold as a foal for 140,000gns, and resold from Lodge Park Stud as a yearling, Ocean Road is one of seven winners from her dam, three of them at stakes level. The third is the winner-producer Lady Liberty (Shirocco), and she was a bargain purchase by Tim Lane last December for just 21,000gns, carrying to Earthlight (Shamardal) whose fee was €20,000. Well done Tim!

This is a family that keeps getting better and better, producing sales horses and racehorses. Last year Kevin and Meta sold Ocean Road’s now yearling half-brother by Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact) for 60,000gns to Jeff Smith’s Littleton Stud, and this spring they welcomed a full-sister to Ocean Road. With no daughter of Love And Laughter on the farm, perhaps the newest arrival is at Middlelane for good.