I WROTE recently about the death of Pastorius (Soldier Hollow) at Haras de Hetraie. The Group 1 Deutsches (German) Derby winners’ loss will be felt even more heavily after the meeting at Aintree, where his four-year-old daughter Zenta won the Grade 1 Anniversary Juvenile Hurdle.

Standing at a fee of €7,000 this season, the highest it has been since he went to stud in 2014, it was clear that Pastorius was just starting to advertise his growing importance as a sire of jumpers, and the first crop conceived after he moved from Germany to France included Zenta, who was also placed in the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle at Cheltenham. The Grade 3 Winning Fair Juvenile Hurdle and Listed Prix Finot Hurdle winner is trained by Willie Mullins.