THE 13th September is Walter Haefner’s birthday (see page 51), and it was therefore quite apt that the latest anniversary fell on the Sunday of Irish Champions Weekend at the Curragh. A mare he had purchased in 1978 for his Moyglare Stud was the ancestress of two of the four Group 1 winners on the day.

A daughter of Speak John (Prince John) foaled in 1971, Talking Picture was bred by Maxwell Gluck’s Elmendorf Farm in Kentucky. She was the champion filly at two in the USA when her victories included the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes, while at three she added the Grade 1 Matron Stakes to her tally of six victories.