TRAINER Gavin Cromwell continued his successful raids on Britain at the weekend, this time at Haydock Park where he won two of the day’s feature races.

Now Is The Hour won the Grade 2 Albert Bartlett Prestige Novices’ Hurdle after Yeah Man had captured the Grade 3 Virgin Bet Grand National Trial Chase, both in the hands of Sean Flanagan. The winners not only shared the common factor of being trained by Cromwell, but they are both Irish-bred seven-year-old sons of Westerner (Danehill). Their sire, now turned 25, stands at Castlehyde Stud.

Now Is The Hour was bred by Tom Treacy and sold as a foal at Goffs for a rewarding €30,000 to the Murphy’s Walshtown Stables. There was no profit when they resold him back at the same venue in the Land Rover Sale, where Derek O’Connor picked him up for the same price he made three years earlier.

Derek saddled him to win a point-to-point on his debut, three years after his purchase, and he was also in the saddle when the gelding was narrowly beaten next time out by Asian Master.

After that Now Is The Hour joined Gavin Cromwell, but his new owners, BDS Syndicate, must have wondered what was happening when he was well beaten on his first two outings in maiden hurdles, and then he fell two out when looking to be the likely winner at Limerick over Christmas.

Well, their patience has been rewarded, and a maiden hurdle victory at Fairyhouse last month has been followed by this Grade 2 success.

One of three winners for his dam, Now Is The Hour is out of Keyaza, an impeccably-bred daughter of Azamour (Night Shift) and the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks winner Key Change (Darshaan). Key Change was raced by Lady Clague who owned Newberry Stud, but she comes from a successful Aga Khan female line. That said, the family has enjoyed more prominence of late under National Hunt rules.

Keyaza was purchased by Sam Hoskins as an unraced three-year-old for 7,500gns, and she raced twice the following spring, running out an easy winner of a Huntingdon bumper before finishing down the field at Aintree in a listed bumper. With that win under her belt she was reoffered back again at the Tattersalls December Sale, and led out unsold at 13,000gns.

Fourth chase

Covered by Kayf Tara (Sadler’s Wells), she produced Katahdin who won a bumper, and he was followed by Mister Bells (Power) who last month won his fourth chase. Her next foal, a £57,000 store purchase by Harry Fry, never ran, and Now Is The Hour is Keyaza’s fourth produce. Her six-year-old daughter Cappacurry Ealu (Getaway) has only started once, last November, when she was fourth of 19 in a bumper at Naas, the winner being Fleur Au Fusil.

Following on from these five are a three-year-old Yeats (Sadler’s Wells) filly and a two-year-old son of Vadamos (Monsun). Last year Keyaza was covered by Santiago (Authorized).

Key Change was bred by His Highness the Aga Khan, trained by John Oxx, and raced just nine times for Lady Clague. Her four victories included the Group 1 Yorkshire Oaks and the Listed Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown, and she was placed in both the Group 1 Irish St Leger, second to Oscar Schindler, and the Group 1 Irish Oaks, third to Dance Design and Shamadara. At Royal Ascot she was beaten a neck in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes.

At stud, Key Change had 10 foals, eight of which raced and seven of them won. Two of her winners were successful in blacktype races, but not in the races you would have expected. Her son Calorando (Green Desert) won and was stakes-placed on the flat for John Oxx, and sold to Simon Christian as a four-year-old. He joined Tony Mullins and his three wins over hurdles included a Grade 2 at Killarney.

Pittoni

Born seven years after Calorando, Pittoni (Peintre Celebre) also started his career with Oxx for whom he raced four times. After two runner-up finishes, Pittoni won a maiden at the Curragh and was sent to the horses-in-training sale at Newmarket where he sold for 65,000gns. Joining Charles Byrnes, Pittoni won twice more on the flat and six times over hurdles, notably winning the Grade 1 Spring Juvenile Hurdle at Leopardstown under Davy Russell.

Key Change’s influence was not completely lost to flat racing. Her winning daughter Carenage (Alzao) is the grandam of a pair of Group 1 performers. Durston (Sea The Moon) won the Caulfield Cup in Australia, while the Group 3 winner Cubanita (Selkirk) was second in the Grosser Preis von Bayern.

Yeah Man (Westerner) was bred by Pat Fenlon’s Brandon View Stud in Kilkenny, and he won a point-to-point on his five-year-old debut for Cormac Doyle. A full-brother to the dual hurdle winner Fletcher (Westerner), Yeah Man was sold at the Goffs Punchestown Sale two years ago for €95,000. He hit the crossbar a few times before opening his account for Gavin Cromwell in a Thurles maiden hurdle, and followed the same pattern when sent chasing.

In fact, his win at Haydock was his first over fences, but he has now won back all of his purchase price, and looks sure to add further successes in the future. Could he win the £1 million Randox Grand National in 2025?

The Jukebox Kid

Twenty-four hours after Yeah Man won at Haydock, his former handler Cormac Doyle won a point-to-point at Tinahely on his debut with The Jukebox Kid (Jukebox Jury). This €31,000 store purchase at the Derby Sale is a five-year-old half-brother to Yeah Man, and it would be no surprise if he appears shortly in a sale.

Yeah Man is one of four racecourse winners out of the unraced Baraza, a daughter of Kalanisi (Doyoun). When mentioning the common factors shared by Now Is Your Hour and Yeah Man, I should also have said that both come from female lines that were cultivated by His Highness the Aga Khan at his studs. Baraza is out of another unraced mare, Banaja (Sadler’s Wells), and the best of her six winners was Banasan (Marju), winner of the Grade A Guinness Kerry National.

This is a family that was equally at home producing high-class runners on the flat and over jumps. Banaja was a daughter of the Group 2 Park Hill Stakes winner Borushka (Bustino), and she had a fascinating record at stud.

She had six foals, all fillies, but only one of them raced. What a runner she was though. Behera (Mill Reef) was the second top-rated three-year-old filly of 1989 in Europe after her victory in the Group 1 Prix Saint-Alary and runner-up finish in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe.

Established

Singlehandedly, Behera has established a successful family branch of her own. She bred the Group 2 winner and Group 1 second Behkara (Kris), Group 3 winner Bayrika (Kahyasi) and listed winner Behkiyra (Entrepreneur) on the flat, while her son Behrajan (Arazi) won the Grade 1 Tolworth Hurdle. Behkara went on to breed the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris winner Behkabad (Cape Cross), while Bayrika is the grandam of Vital Equine (Danetime) who won the Group 2 Champagne Stakes and was runner-up in the Group 1 2000 Guineas.

Other daughters of Behera have also made quite an impact. One worth a mention is the stakes-placed Behra (Grand Lodge). Her offspring include the Punchestown Festival Grade 1-winning hurdler Barizan (Kalanisi) and the Ascot Grade 2-winning hurdler Baradari (Manduro).