THE Listed Junior Jumpers Open National Hunt Flat Race at Cheltenham went to the French-sounding, but Irish-bred Fortune De Mer, a four-year-old son of Doyen (Sadler’s Wells) bred by Denis Cusack. He purchased the gelding’s dam Creation (Vendangeur) at the end of her racing career from Gigginstown House Stud, giving €42,000 for her at Goffs in 2019, carrying her first foal.

That turned out to be Fortune De Mer, who was sold through Sunnyhill Stud as a foal for €22,000 at Tattersalls Ireland, resold for €48,000 as a three-year-old last year at the renamed Arkle Sale, and after he placed second in a point-to-point, having unseated his rider on his debut, was picked up for £105,000 by Ryan Mahon in a private transaction at this year’s Tattersalls Cheltenham April Sale.

Having run second to Block Rockin Beats in a Cheltenham bumper on his racecourse debut at Cheltenham last month, the pair met again in the listed bumper at the same track at the weekend, and again half a length divided them, this time in favour of Fortune De Mer. Dan Skelton now has charge of the four-year-old’s career. Denis Cusack sold the second foal out of Creation for €26,000, and that now three-year-old daughter of Walk In The Park (Montjeu) was signed for by Kevin Ross.

Creation raced firstly in France, placed for trainer Louisa Carberry, and then joined Henry de Bromhead. While she only won once, a maiden hurdle at Tipperary, she was second in a Grade 3 mares hurdle at Down Royal and a listed mares novice hurdle at Punchestown.

When she was finished racing, Gigginstown put her in foal and sold her at auction. At the time of her sale, she was a full-sister to Barra (Vendangeur) who twice raced at the Cheltenham Festival for Gigginstown and placed on both occasions, and she sneaked some Grade 1 form when third to Augusta Kate and Let’s Dance at Fairyhouse.

When Creation was catalogued at Goffs, her half-brother El Barra (Racinger) had placed in a point-to-point. Few were to know that he would go on to win six times, having been acquired by Harold Kirk for £280,000, and that his wins would include a Grade A chase at Punchestown, while he placed in both the Galway Plate and the Grade 1 Golden Miller Novices’ Chase at Cheltenham.

Kudos to Diamond Bangle with Cheltenham double

WHAT were the odds of this happening? Last year, the then three-year-old Burdett Road (Muhaarar) won the Grade 2 Prestbury Juvenile Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham November meeting for The Gredley Family. They bred him at their Stetchworth and Middle Park Studs in Newmarket, and raced him when he failed to sell as a foal for 18,000gns.

Born a year later, Burdett Road’s half-brother East India Dock (Golden Horn) was also offered as a foal at Tattersalls, and he returned home when he failed to find a buyer, though he was valued by them a little higher, and was unsold at 27,000gns. Now, he too has gone on and won the same Grade 2 race at Cheltenham captured a year ago by Burdett Road. James Owen trains both geldings.

In another case of coincidence, following East India Dock’s win, Burdett Road returned to last weekend’s Cheltenham meeting and added the Grade 3 Greatwood Hurdle to his tally of wins, his seventh in all. A fine dual-purpose runner, during the summer he landed the Listed Godolphin Stakes at Newmarket, and has winnings that are now approaching £250,000. East India Dock is a two-time winner on the flat too, and he is close to £100,000 in earnings.

While The Gredley Family will absolutely have enjoyed the weekend double at Cheltenham, these were not the successes they envisaged for the dam of Burdett Road and East India Dock when they spent 140,000gns to buy her at the Tattersalls December Sale eight years ago. That mare is Diamond Bangle (Galileo), and she was sold with a covering by Mastercraftsman (Danehill Dancer). In training with Aidan O’Brien, Diamond Bangle never made it to the races, and the Coolmore partners sold her through John Troy at Newmarket.

When she came on the market, Diamond Bangle’s main appeal was that she was, and is, an own-sister to leading miler Rip Van Winkle (Galileo). What a purchase he was as a yearling in Italy by John O’Byrne in 2007, costing €170,000. He won more than £1.2 million, and his Group 1 victories comprised the Juddmonte International, Queen Elizabeth II Stakes and the Sussex Stakes. Sadly, he died at the age of just 14.

O’Brien’s investment is worth a small fortune

OWNER Conor O’Brien will never regret his €25,000 spend on a filly foal by Wings Of Eagles (Pour Moi) at the 2020 Goffs December National Hunt Sale. At the time she was a half-sister to five winners, coming from a solid branch of a great National Hunt family, and she always had residual value as a broodmare if things didn’t happen on the track.

That picture looks very different now. Even without ever having a saddle on her back, Churchfield Sunset, as the Wings Of Eagles filly was named, became much more valuable when her half-brother Ballyburn (Flemensfirth) emerged. That three-time Grade 1 winner, a Cheltenham and Punchestown festival hero, is one of the most exciting young National Hunt horses in training, and he has already shown himself to be a star.

If Churchfield Sunset’s value had multiplied many times with Ballyburn’s achievements, now she has added to her own worth by showing ability too, and her second bumper win in three starts came in Navan’s Listed Coolmore EBF Mares bumper. Augusta Kate and Jetara are previous winners of the race, and it will be interesting to see what path Emmet Mullins plans for Churchfield Sunset.

Ballyburn and Churchfield Sunset are among seven winners now for their unraced dam Old Moon (Old Vic). They are bred by The Beeches Stud, as was another sibling, the Grade 2 chase winner Noble Endeavour (Flemensfirth). A further full-brother to Ballyburn, Minella Daddy (Flemensfirth) was placed in a few listed chases. At this year’s Goffs Arkle Sale, Chris Jones sold the three-year-old Babyburn (Crystal Ocean) for €92,000, having purchased her as a foal for €25,000.

Churchfield Sunset is the fourteenth produce of Old Moon, her seventh winner on the racecourse and eighth if you add in a point-to-point winner. The mare’s most recent produce is a yearling filly by Crystal Ocean (Sea The Stars), her sixteenth and produced when she was 22 years of age.

Seven of Old Moon’s siblings were winners, Warden Hill (Presenting) being the best of them. He was runner-up in the Grade 1 Feltham Novice Chase. They are out of the unraced Moon Storm (Strong Gale) who had 14 foals in all, and that mare was a daughter of Luminous Run (Deep Run). The latter mare had three winning offspring from just four runners, while her grandson Tully East (Shantou) won at the Cheltenham Festival.