The Flat stallion Holy Roman Emperor was responsible for the Flat-bred Vischio, who triumphed in the Listed Paddy and Maureen Mullins Mares Handicap Hurdle, the remainder of the sires represented by winners are those standing firmly in the NH camp.

That number now includes the dual Derby winner Harzand, who swapped codes when moving from Gilltown to Kilbarry Lodge Stud in 2023 – and he has not looked back since.

With his oldest crop now seven, Harzand’s NH runners have generated plenty of buzz of late, and with large books under his belt for the last two seasons, there is surely much more to come.

He recorded his breakthrough top-level scorer in only the second race of the Dublin Racing Festival when Hello Neighbour took the lead over the last in the Juvenile Hurdle (G1) and came home comfortably to win by three-quarters of a length.

Now unbeaten in all four starts, including in Grade 2 company over course and distance on St Stephen’s Day, the four-year-old was bred by John Yarr and sold for €57,000 at Tattersalls Ireland in November 2021.

His dam, the Montjeu mare Je T’Adore, has more than proved herself to Yarr having also produced A Wave Of The Sea by Born To Sea, another stallion son of Sea The Stars, and he won the same race in 2020.

She has also bred the Grade 2-placed winner Dark Voyager(Raven’s Pass), and Duvet Day (Starspangledbanner), who scored in Grade 3company at Churchill Downs in November last year.

The mare cost Yarr only 28,000gns at the Tattersalls December Mares Sale in 2014, and her now three-year-old daughter by Saxon Warrior passed through the same sale ring when snapped as a foal by Tina Rau for 38,000gns in 2022.

Harzand also enjoyed sale ring success just the week before the Dublin Festival – his point-to-point winner Starzand topped the Tattersalls Cheltenham January Sale, bought by the former champion NH jockey Richard Johnson on behalf of Gwent Holdings for 230,000gns.

The five-year-old gelding, every inch a future chaser, is going into training with Philip Hobbs and Johnson White.

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On the up

Majborough finished third in the Spring Juvenile Hurdle (G1) at last year’s meeting before bagging the Triumph Hurdle (G1).

Having made a winning transition to fences at Fairyhouse in December, the son of Martinborough plunged back into top-level company in his new code to triumph in the Irish Arkle Novice Chase (G1), in spite of not wholly convincing with his jumping at times.

He is the best to date out of the unraced Janimone (Lavirco), who has since produced colts by Walzertakt and Silverwave.

Bred by Hubert Langot, Majborough made one winning start at Auteuil for Daniela Mele before his transfer to Ireland.

The Tattersalls Ireland Novice Hurdle (G1) also featured atop-level breakthrough for a youngster, with the five-year-old Kopek Des Bordes extending his unbeaten record to three.

The son of No Risk At All hacked up by 13l on his first start since breaking his hurdle maiden over course and distance on St Stephen’s Day.

He is the latest black-type winner out of the prolific Miss Berry (Cadoudal), following hot on the heels of the Grade 1 winner Utopie Des Bordes (Antarctique), Victorie Des Borde (Antarctique), who won at Grade 2 level before producing the black-type performer Eden Bleu (Network), the Listed winner and Grade 3-placed Quenta Des Bordes (Bateau Rouge), the Grade 3-placed Darling Des Bordes (Balko), and the Listed winner Belle Du Berry (Network), who produced the Grade 3 winner Risk Belle to No Risk At All.

Kopek Des Bordes is a sixth Grade 1 winner for his sire, who stands at a career high fee of €20,000 at Haras de Montaigu – a decade ago breeders could have used his services for as little as €3,000.

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Jury at the double

Burgage Stud’s Jukebox Jury fired in a rapid double in the closing stages of the meeting when represented by the Listed hurdle winner McLaurey and, just one race later (Bambino Fever, an eye-catching winner of the mares’ Grade 2 bumper.

The former was fittingly bred by Burgage Stud’s owner Victor Connolly, who sold the six-year-old for €28,000 at the Goffs December Sale as a foal, the gelding then a €55,000 store at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale bought by Peter and Ross Doyle

Winner of his sole point-to-point, McLaurey made an inauspicious start to his hurdling career at Fairyhouse in March when beaten by80l!

He got off the mark at his third attempt this term at Limerick in late December, and his Leopardstown victory marked a significant improvement as he stayed on to win by a length, despite idling a bit once he hit the front.

He is the sole winner to date out of the unraced Soeur Dee (Definite Article), who is herself a half-sister to the Listed-placed hurdler Cockleshell Road (Sinndar) and is out of Soeur Ti (Kaldoun), who was twice a Listed winner on the Flat, as well as being Grade 3-placed as a juvenile.

Further back, this is the family of the Grade 1-winninghurdlers Me Voici and L’Unique, as well as the Classic-placed Dice Roll.

Connolly paid just €4,500 at the Tattersalls Ireland November Sale in 2017 for Soeur Dee in-foal to Califet, just before Jukebox Jury embarked on his career on the Burgage Stud roster, having started his stallion innings at Gestut Etzean.

The stallion’s daughter Bambino Fever looked an exciting prospect when staying on well to take her unbeaten Rules record to two from two, following a facile victory in her sole point-to-point in May 2024.

Bred by Geoffrey Thompson, she is a half-sister to Dixie Mafia (Sholokhov), a dual winner between the flags in November 2024.

The pair are out of the unraced Stowaway mare Midnight Way, from a high-class jumping family that includes the Grade 1 winner Death Duty, among others.

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Keeping it in the family

Jukebox Jury may have been the only stallion to record a double at the meeting, but past and present stallion residents of Kedrah House Stud also notched up a quick fire double on the opening day.

An Peann Dearg got the ball rolling in the Listed Ryanair Handicap Chase for current resident Well Chosen, and half an hour later, Colcannon followed up in the Grade 2 bumper for former resident Berkshire.

An Peann Dearg had scored over course and distance at Leopardstown’s Christmas meeting and showed a good turn of foot to stay on well and win by 7l.

Bred by Sean McKenna, his victory marked the first piece of black-type in the family for several generations, being out of the unraced Generous mare Mooretown Vick, and pedigree readers have to peer back to 2001and Sharpaten (Scenic), Listed-placed over hurdles, to find the family’s most recent stakes race exploit prior to An Peann Dearg’s victory.

The records show that it took Colcannon four tries to break his maiden in bumper company, finally getting off the mark this term at Galway in October. However, the now five-year-old was first past the post by 9l at Punchestown in February 2024, only to be disqualified when his jockey weighed in light.

At Leopardstown, he took the lead inside the final furlong and skipped clear to win by a length and a half.

Bred by Philip Meade Snr, he is a true product of Kedrah House Stud’s stallions – he is a son of the Royal Lodge Stud (G2) winner Berkshire and is out of the Well Chosen mare She’s A Star.

Twice a winner on the Flat, the mare also scored over hurdles, also earning her black-type over hurdles in Grade 3 company when trained, like her son (Noel Meade, for the Philip Meade syndicate.

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Gone but definitely not forgotten

It is now five years since the NH stalwart stallion Flemensfirth was pensioned from stud duties and two years since he died, but his legacy lives on.

His name was once more in lights when Ballyburn followed upon his Grade 1 success over hurdles at the same meeting last year with a victory romp in the Ladbroke Novice Chase (G1) this year. Although briefly headed by Croke Park (Walk In The Park) after the last, he stayed on well to triumph by 5l.

Bred by the McCarthy family’s The Beeches Stud, home to his late sire, the seven-year-old cost €80,000 as a foal when purchased by Ian Ferguson at Tattersalls Ireland.

His dam Old Moon (Old Vic) made the most of her relationship with Flemensfirth, producing the Grade 2-placed Noble Endeavour (also twice placed at the Cheltenham Festival) and the Listed-placed multiple-winning chaser Minella Daddy from her previous liaisons with the sire.

With Flemensfirth no longer an option, the mare visited Wings Of Eagles in 2020 producing the mare Churchfield Sunset, who won a Listed bumper at Navan in November, before finishing sixth in the Grade 2 mares’ bumper at the Dublin Racing Festival.

Flemensfirth also featured as the broodmare sire of Final Demand (Walk In The Park), who provided the perfect curtain-raiser to the meeting when skipping clear to win the Nathaniel Lacy & Partners Solicitors Novice Hurdle (G1).

Now unbeaten in three starts, including his point-to-point victory last March, he was purchased for €230,000 at the 2022 Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale when offered from the stellar nursery of Kenneth Parkhill’s Castletown Quarry Stud.

He is the best to date of the five winners produced by Flemensfirth’s daughter Zuzka, herself a dual Grade 3 winner over hurdles and third behind Jezki in the 2012 Royal Bond Novice Hurdle (G1). This is a family of long-standing with the Parkhill family; Zuzka is a half-sister to the Grade2-winning chaser Puffin Billy (Heron Island) and the Grade 2-placed winner Tycoon Prince (Trans Island), from the family of the classy hurdler Mole Board (Deep Run).

Getaway back in focus

Turning attention away from Leopardstown, four years after the success of Sporting John in the Scilly Isles Novices’ Chase (G1) at Sandown, his sire Getaway was represented by another victor in the contest when Handstands made all, getting the better of a fine tussle with Jango Baie (Tiger Groom).

Winner of his six starts, including a debut point-to-point success, he does not hold any Cheltenham Festival entries and is likely to head to Aintree instead.

Bred by Brendan and Mary Fitzpatrick, he has made three trips through the sale ring, most recently at the Tattersalls Cheltenham November Sale in 2023 when he was bought for 135,000 by Kilbride Equine. His dam, Wattle Bridge (King’s Theatre), has produced two other winners and is a half-sister to the useful Snake Eyes (Oscar).

Handstands is a sixth individual Grade 1 winner for Getaway, who has spent his entire stallion career at Grange Stud. Ironically, his feet his year has returned to its opening mark of €3,000, down from a high of€9,000 in the wake of such as Sporting John and his paternal half-sister Verdana Blue.

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by Amy Bennett, International Thoroughbred Magazine