HOW times have changed for race mares in this country. Tipperary-based owner/breeder Brett Merry can attest to that and he can use the pedigree of his recent Weatherbys ITBA Fillies Bonus winner to explain it.

His mare Merry Doyenne is the latest generation to race from a family line that goes back to the 1970s, back to a top class mare called Helenium, who his parents bred and raced.