HOPES were high when the dual juvenile Group 1 winner Bushranger (by Danetime) took up stallion duties and early sales ring success kept his mare numbers high in those early years.

But then his progeny reached the track, and although there were lots of winners none managed to succeed in European blacktype company.

It was almost inevitable that he would be exported, and now that the former Tally-Ho Stud resident is settled into his new home in Turkey he has become another example of the Murphy’s Law of thoroughbred breeding; that export or death of a stallion precedes the emergence of career-best results from those he left behind.

Last year it was now South African-based Duke Of Marmalade (by Danehill) who added his name to the list of exemplars of that ‘law’, getting three Group 1 classic stars: Star Of Seville, Nutan, and Simple Verse.

Bushranger’s revival has not been as dramatic, but he has taken his tally of European stakes winners from zero to three in the space of a few weeks.

Mobsta started the ball rolling when winning the Listed Cammidge Trophy at Doncaster last month and then Con Harrington’s homebred mare Ridge Ranger, whose family was reviewed here last week after the Group 3 success of her half-brother Profitable (by Invincible Spirit), took a listed contest over six furlongs at Nottingham.

The following afternoon the Michael O’Callaghan-trained Now Or Never was an easy winner of the Group 3 Derrinstown Stud 1000 Guineas Trial over a mile at Leopardstown, and that filly is now on course for a crack at the Group 1 Tattersalls Irish 1000 Guineas.

CONNECTIONS

She was bred by Tally-Ho Stud, she is a £42,000 graduate of the Doncaster 2yo Breeze-Up Sale, and with her family connections it is possible that she could become her sire’s first winner at the highest level.

Now Or Never is the second foal out of an unraced mare called Queenofthefairies (by Pivotal) and she has already won over further than either her sire or her famous ‘uncle’ managed.

Both tried a mile once, both were unplaced, and in her uncle’s case that run was a fifth place finish behind Frankel in the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes.

Her grandam is the Group 2 Flying Childers Stakes winner Land Of Dreams (by Cadeaux Genereux) and so her dam is a half-sister to the five-times Group 1 star Dream Ahead (by Diktat).

One of the best sprinters of recent years, that grandson of Warning (by Known Fact) also won Group 1 Prix de la Foret over seven furlongs and the Ballylinch Stud resident was one of the top freshman sires in Europe in 2015.

His siblings also include the pattern-placed dual stakes-winning 12 furlongs performer Into The Dark (by Rainbow Quest), but when you look at what the rest of the family achieved then it seems fairly clear that the gelding’s stamina is almost entirely due to his sire.

Land Of Dreams, in comparison, was always going to be either a sprinter or a miler as she is the daughter of a Group 1 July Cup hero who stayed a mile and she is out of Sahara Star, a Group 3 Molecomb Stakes winner by the hugely influential Green Desert (by Danzig).

Sahara Star’s blacktype descendants also include her grand-daughter Princess Noor (by Holy Roman Emperor), a Group 3 Princess Margaret Stakes winner who was only beaten by three-parts of a length when runner-up to Vorda in the Group 1 Cheveley Park Stakes three years ago.

The next dam is the Group 1 July Cup runner-up Vaigly Star (by Star Appeal), a faster runner than might have been expected for the daughter of an Arc winner.

A Sadler’s Wells (by Northern Dancer) out of her might have been expected to be an eight to 10 furlong horse, but Yalaietanee won the Group 3 Greenham Stakes over seven, finished only fourth in both the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains (French 2000 Guineas) and Group 1 Irish 2000 Guineas, and was later a multiple winner at around a mile in Dubai, never having been asked to go beyond that trip.

His unraced full-sister Revonda, however, showed a little of the expected stamina at stud as her son Mad Rush (by Lemon Drop Kid) won the Listed Tapster Stakes over 12 furlongs at Goodwood, was runner-up in a photo finish for the Group 2 Prix Kergorlay over three furlongs further, and was beaten by less than six lengths when seventh in the Group 1 Melbourne Cup over two miles.

PLENTY OF SPEED

There is also plenty of speed in the fifth generation of Now Or Never’s pedigree as Vaigly Great, a half-brother to Vaigly Star, was a Group 3 Palace House Stakes winner and dual Group 1 July Cup runner-up despite being a son of ace miler Great Nephew (by Honeyway), the stallion who gave us Grundy and Shergar.

Vaigly Great’s half-sister Vaigly Scene (by Busted) also deserves a mention as her daughter Castle Pines (by Marscay) was a speedy pattern winner in Australia and her great-grand-daughter Royal Razalma (by Lope De Vega) won the 2014 edition of the Group 3 Cornwallis Stakes.

This is a family that is all about speed, but Now Or Never is clearly suited by a mile and it will be fascinating to follow this potentially top-class filly’s career, both on the track and eventually at stud.