THE most valuable blacktype race in England last weekend was the Grade 3 Betfair Hurdle over two miles, 110 yards at Newbury and it produced something of an upset as the 20/1 Violet Dancer beat 22/1 Cheltenian by three lengths.

The winner is a half-brother to Chris Pea Green (by Proclamation), who has been placed in the William Hill Handicap Hurdle at Ascot, in the Gerry Fielden Hurdle at Newbury, and in the National Spirit Hurdle at Fontwell, and yet theirs is a pedigree full of speed, including two horses who were Group 1 winners over six furlongs.

Violet Dancer was bred by Jeremy Hinds, he is trained by Gary Moore, and although he is a son of the sprint sire Bertolini (by Danzig), he ran just four times on the flat, faring no better than a pair of second place finishes on the all-weather tracks.

He has now run 11 times over hurdles, last Saturday's race was his third success, and he is the first of his dam's three blacktype progeny to get the large bold type.

Another Secret (by Efisio) has had six winners from six foals.

Violet Dancer's full-sister Smokey Rye has won six times on the flat, and another full-sister, Smokey Ryder, has won seven and picked up third place in a listed contest at Lingfield.

His grandam Secrets of Honour (by Belmez) was unraced but has a stud record of five winners from seven foals, and the next dam is the triple flat scorer Double Finesse (by Double Jump), the mare who gave us Mr Brooks and also Valika (by Valiyar), the dam of First Trump.

Mr Brooks (by Blazing Saddles) was a top-class sprinter who won the Group 1 July Cup and the Group 1 Prix de l'Abbaye but sadly met with a fatal accident at the Breeders' Cup. He would have been a popular stallion had fate not intervened.

First Trump (by Primo Dominie) was a leading juvenile whose wins included the Group 1 Middle Park Stakes, and he later went on to some success at stud without hitting real prominence.

Prancing (by Prince Sabo), who is a stakes-placed half-sister to First Trump, is the dam of the stakes winner Levera (by Groom Dancer) and of the stakes-placed 19 times scorer Cavorting (by Polar Falcon), and First Trump's siblings also include Lighthouse (by Warning), the winning grandam of the Group 2 Cherry Hinton Stakes winner and Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes runner-up Misheer (by Oasis Dream).

The grandam of Violet Dancer is also a half-sister to a non-winner whose descendants include the precocious sprinting juvenile Broox (by Xaar), winner of the Group 3 Prix d'Arenberg and placed in the Group 2 Prix Robert Papin.

As for his dam Another Secret, her two most recently registered progeny are her now four-year-old dual sprint winner Dazza (by Bertolini) and a two-year-old daughter of Compton Place (by Indian Ridge) who has not yet been named.