THE days between December 26th and the year end were full to the brim with quality racing, and this week I take a look at the 26 Irish and British blacktype winners over jumps in that jam-packed period.

French and Irish-breds went neck and neck in the race to top the table, with 11 and 10 winners respectively. When it came to Grade 1 successes, the Irish were best with six against the French five, but a special word of credit to the British-breds, as three of their five winners on the list were victorious in Grade 1 contests.

AL GASPARO (FR), 2019 g. by Al Namix (Linamix) out of Brune Virginia (Nickname). Bred by Haras du Hoguenet and Gilles Lebaron

A listed hurdle winner at Leopardstown for his third win of 2024, trained by Gavin Cromwell, Al Gasparo sold as a newly-turned yearling at Tattersalls Ireland for €25,000 to Gerry Hogan. He was saddled by Ciaran Murphy to land a Loughrea point-to-point and sold for €80,000 at the Goffs Punchestown Sale. He comes from a very smart female line, and is the best of two winners for his unraced dam. She is a half-sister to an unraced mare who bred a Grade 1 winner by Al Namix.

That was Grandouet and his five hurdle wins was headlined by success in the Grade 1 Champion 4YO Hurdle at Punchestown. He is not the only Grade 1 winner in the immediate family. Al Gasparo’s fourth dam bred the Grade 1 Long Walk Hurdle winner Sweet Duke (Iron Duke), is grandam of the Grade 1 juvenile hurdle winner Blue Shark (Cadoudal), and third dam of the 2024 Grade 1 French Champion Hurdle winner Losange Bleu (Martaline).

BALKO D’ANGE (FR), 2020 g. by Balko (Pistolet Bleu) out of Rue Cler (High Rock). Bred by Steven and Ange Fouilleul

Offered for sale at the 2023 Tattersalls Ireland July Sale, where he was unsold at just €5,000, the lightly-raced Balko D’Ange has been hitting the crossbar on a number of occasions, and he picked a good opportunity to open his winning account, successful in a listed hurdle race at Limerick on just his sixth outing. He is the sole winner from his placed dam, and she is a half-sister to Mail De Bievre (Cadoudal), winner of both the Grade 2 Prix Murat Chase and Grade 3 Prix Troytown Chase, both at Auteuil.

BANBRIDGE (IRE), 2016 g. by Doyen (Sadler’s Wells) out of Old Carton Lane (Presenting). Bred by Dan and Danielle McSorley

One of two Grade 1 winners over the Christmas period for daughters of Presenting (Mtoto), Banbridge was the highlight of racing on St Stephen’s Day when he won his sixth race over fences, the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton. Having failed to win a point-to-point, this €36,000 yearling purchase by Ian Ferguson has now won 11 races, including a bumper and four hurdles, and this was Banbridge’s third Grade 1 victory. Incredible to think that his 2024 half-sister by Poet’s Word (Poet’s Voice) failed to find a buyer in December when led out unsold at €20,000.

Banbridge is the first winner for his dam who failed to show anything in a few starts as a seven-year-old in point-to-points. She was deserving of a chance at stud however, as her four winning siblings included the Midlands Grand National runner-up Major Malarkey (Supreme Leader). The third dam of the Kempton star is the dual winning point-to-pointer Pineway VII (General Ironside), and she bred the multiple Grade 2 winning hurdler and chaser Valley Henry (Step Together). He won five times at that level, four times over fences and once over hurdles.

BIOLUMINESCENCE (IRE), 2018 f. by Walk In The Park (Montjeu) out of Molly Round (Old Vic). Bred by Andrew Kavanagh

Sold from her breeder’s Borris House for €60,000 at the Derby Sale, Bioluminescence was saddled by Gavin Cromwell to win a Boulta point-to-point on her debut. When she raced next, she was in the colours of J.P. McManus. In six starts for the Limerick man she has won three, been second twice and pulled up in a Grade 1 hurdle. She has a liking for her owner’s local track, winning a Grade 3 hurdle there and now, on her chasing debut, adding the Grade 2 Dawn Run Mares Novice Chase.

Bioluminescence is the third, and best, winner for her dam who was also bred and raced by Andrew Kavanagh. He sent Molly Round to England to race where, at the age of seven, she won three hurdle races and a chase. Kavanagh had purchased Mondeo Rose (Roselier), carrying Molly Round, for €30,000. Bioluminescence’s fourth dam, Realma (Realm), bred the Sweeps Hurdle and Grade 2 P.Z. Mower Chase winner Bonalma (Bonne Noel).

BRIGHTERDAYSAHEAD (FR), 2019 f. by Kapgarde (Garde Royale) out of Matnie (Laveron). Bred by Francois-Marie Cottin

Everyone knows the story of the unraced Matnie. She is the dam of five winners with her first five foals, all five are blacktype winners, three are Grade 1 winners, and the other two have been placed at Grade 1 level. One of Matnie’s eight offspring to date is unique, Brighterdaysahead, as she is the only filly she has produced. A €310,000 Derby Sale purchase, Brighterdaysahead added a third Grade 1 win to her tally of nine victories in 10 starts.

Matnie’s first winner was French Dynamite (Kentucky Dynamite), winner of Grade 3 chases at Thurles and Punchestown who placed at up to Grade 1 level. He was followed by Indiana Jones (Blue Bresil), also trained by Mouse Morris, and he won the Grade 3 Flyingbolt Novice Chase at Navan, and was third in the Grade 1 Colliers Novice Chase at the Punchestown Festival.

The ill-fated Mighty Potter (Martaline) took the family to a new level when he won the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle, Grade 1 Champion Novice Hurdle, Grade 1 Ladbrokes Novice Chase and Grade 1 Drinmore Novice Chase. Finally, Caldwell Potter (Martaline) won the Grade 1 Future Champions Novice Hurdle before being sold for a record €740,000.

CONSTITUTION HILL (GB), 2017 g. by Blue Bresil (Smadoun) out of Queen Of The Stage (King’s Theatre). Bred by Sally Noott

The only time Constitution Hill has ever tasted defeat was in a point-to-point. He has an impeccable record on the track, and he epitomised the genius of trainer Nicky Henderson with his third success in the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Kempton. Incredibly, apart from his first win over hurdles, he has only contested Grade 1 contests, and his roll of honour also includes the Champion Hurdle and Supreme Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham, the Aintree Hurdle, Tolworth Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown and the Fighting Fifth Hurdle at Newcastle. He has pocketed over £800,000.

Constitution Hill was bred by Sally Noott, and Barry Geraghty bought him with Warren Ewing as a foal at Tattersalls Ireland for €16,500, and sold him to owner Michael Buckley at the Goffs UK Spring Sale in 2021 for £120,000. Noott traded the gelding’s dam Queen Of The Stage for £340,000 in an online sale to Jayne McGivern. This was a mare who sold as a foal for €2,000.

Queen Of The Stage won twice over hurdles, and was placed in a listed mares’ hurdle at Sandown. Constitution Hill is her first foal, and she is the dam of a second winner, Land Genie (Flemensfirth), who won a bumper, and added a hurdle win last year.

Queen Of The Stage has an unraced four-year-old filly Reenie Turpin (Jack Hobbs), and two-year-old and yearling full-sisters to Constitution Hil. She is out of the winning hurdler Supreme Du Casse (Supreme Leader), successful at the age of seven, and Queen Of The Stage is the only one of her dam’s three foals to race. The next dam Pede Gale (Strong Gale) bred three winners and was a sibling to six, the best being the Grade 2-winning hurdler My Sunny Glen (Furry Glen).

This is one of four separate stories in which Leo reviews all 26 Christmas blacktype winners