SOLERINA, the daughter of Toulon (Top Ville) who gave the brothers John and Michael Bowe, and their family, so many great racing days, died recently at the age of 24. She had suffered a bout of colic.

A great favourite with racegoers, only one of her 40 career starts was outside Ireland, when she was fourth in the Grade 1 Stayers’ Hurdle at Cheltenham as a seven-year-old. She won 22 times and was a most consistent mare, amassing earnings of more than £465,000 in a career that spanned four years, starting and ending at Naas.