GREAT to see Bellshill back in the winners’ enclosure on Saturday at Fairyhouse after his victory in the Grade 3 At The Races Bobbyjo Chase. This was his first win since December 2016 and his first start since last year’s Cheltenham Festival. The eight-year-old has little mileage on the clock still and this was his ninth success in all, three of which have been gained at Grade 1 level.

Bred by Frank Motherway, the son of King’s Theatre (Sadler’s Wells) is out of Fairy Native, a daughter of Be My Native (Our Native) who was tried three times on the racecourse without success. What she may have lacked in racing talent herself has proven to be no impediment as a broodmare and she has four winning progeny and some very tasty young stock in the wings. Three of her four winners are sons of the former Ballylinch Stud champion National Hunt sire King’s Theatre.

Bellshill made his mark as a bumper horse, notably when winning the Grade 1 Champion Bumper at Punchestown. He was again a winner at the Punchestown Festival when he added the Grade 1 Novice Hurdle to a prior success in the Grade 1 Slaney Hurdle at Naas. Already a Grade 2 winner over fences at Limerick, he was third to Might Bite in the Grade 1 RSA Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham last March and it is surely only a matter of time before he adds a win at the highest level over fences to his roll of honour.

Fairy Native’s dam Amy Fairy (The Parson) won a bumper, four hurdle races and two chases and came close to a big race win when runner-up to Tomintoul in the Monaloe Hurdle at Fairyhouse. Three of her five foals raced and she bred a single winner, Desmond Tutu (Be My Native), though he did win four times from just 10 career starts for Paul Nicholls.

Amy Fairy is the better of a pair of winners from the unraced Copp On (Menelek), and she was a full-sister to the 1979 Powers Gold Cup winner Persian Wanderer, while a half-sister Joint Master (Master Owen), a three-time hurdle winner, bred Arthur Moore’s dual Thyestes Chase winner Wylde Hyde (Strong Gale). In addition to being the dam of Amy Fairy, some of Copp On’s other daughters did well at stud.

They included the unraced Steal On (General Ironside) and easily the best of her offspring was the hugely popular One Man (Remainder Man). He gained all but three of his 20 victories over fences and they included Grade 1 wins in the Queen Mother Champion Chase, the King George VI Chase and the Ascot Chase. Steal On is also grandam of the listed Cheltenham bumper winner One Term (Beneficial) and third dam of the Grade 1 Tipperkevin Hurdle winner One Track Mind (Flemensfirth)

Last November Frank Motherway sold a Walk In The Park (Montjeu) colt foal, a half-brother to Bellshill, for €70,000 to Aiden Murphy. This was easily the best price obtained by a son or daughter of the mare who is now 20 years of age. The previous best was €50,000 which John O’Byrne gave for In The Zone (Bob Back) as a foal in 2004.