THE Princetonian is a beautifully bred daughter of Oscar. She was bought by the Heaney family in the Tattersalls November National Hunt Foal Sale in 2013.

Trained by Jessica Harrington, she won a maiden hurdle at Clonmel just last month, netting a €5,000 bonus from the Weatherbys ITBA National Hunt Fillies Bonus scheme in the process.

The Heaney family have been involved in racing and breeding for a long time.

“Our parents always had a few horses on the farm at home, some ponies for riding and some showjumping broodmares,” Noel Heaney explains. “They developed an interest in thoroughbreds when they bought a three-year-old store filly with a view to racing her and eventually breeding from her. Unfortunately that filly never got to the track but is still breeding away at home and has been a consistent producer.

“Our Grandfather (Eamonn McCormack) had horses all his life and bred Papillion to win the Grand National in 2000.”

Initially the Heaney family had some success buying three-year-old stores but The Princetonian represents a change of strategy with regard to their approach.

“My brother and I were looking to improve the quality of the broodmares that we owned,” Noel explained.

“It costs the same to feed a good one as a bad one. We wanted to up the quality of the stock we owned and her pedigree was what attracted us to her at the foal sale.

“For us it’s a hobby but it needs to pay for itself and so needs to be approached like a business. In that regard I think it should be about quality rather than quantity. I think that mentality gives you a better chance to survive the ups and downs of the market.”

Noel’s brother Kevin has also enjoyed significant success. Billy’s Hope was also bought as a foal from Pascal Keenan and is a half-sister to Grade 1 winners In Compliance and One Cool Cookie, she was leased to the Flyers Syndicate for her racing career where she won in bumpers, hurdles and over fences, earning her blacktype and picking up two ITBA Weatherbys NH Fillies bonuses along the way.

Noel believes that National Hunt fillies benefit greatly from the Weatherbys ITBA bonus: “It’s a huge incentive to run these fillies rather than going straight to stud and gives an excellent return if the filly is good enough to win a race or two. It gives fillies a decent chance of winning one or two races.”

As for future targets for The Princetonian, Noel said: “We are going to give her a chance to get some blacktype. I think we might go breeding with her early next year.”