SADDLER MAKER should probably, in the normal run of events, never have gone to stud. He did manage to be placed from a handful of starts and he was a son of Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer). Though he was from a good Wertheimer family, he would have more likely been gelded and sent hurdling had he been owned by anyone else.

He died two years ago at the age of 18 and he has left behind a pretty smart record with his winners over jumps. At the weekend his son Bristol De Mai won a second Grade 1 Betfair Lancashire Chase, adding to other Grade 1 wins over hurdles and fences. He has now won 10 times and his connections have pocketed well over £550,000 to date. He is also on course, again, for a £1 million bonus.