KNOCKTORAN Stud is based in Elton, near Knocklong, in Co Limerick. The farm was purchased 30 years ago by Brendan and Anne Marie Hayes and in the intervening years it has become a nursery of the highest renown.

In this special year and anniversary, how appropriate was it that their home-bred Precieuse should spring a most pleasant surprise last Saturday and win the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, adding further lustre to a family with which Brendan and Anne Marie have had a long and successful association.

Reflecting on the win this week, Brendan told me: “We have had a charmed life in racing and breeding and love what we are doing. I have always been fortunate to work with great people such as Jean-Pierre Binet, Gerry Oldham and Roland de Chambure. Jean-Pierre was a great person and fun to be around. We are thrilled to have picked up the baton.”

Brendan has been associated now with four or five generations of Precieuse’s family, going back to the days of the Group 1 Prix Ganay winner Infra Green. That mare went on to produce a number of group winners, though none were as talented as she was. One of Infra Green’s half-sisters was the Northfields mare North Forland and she was runner-up in the Group 2 Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot. She enjoyed great success as a broodmare and three of her winners were at group level.

The Law Society colt Fortune’s Wheel won the Group 2 Prix d’Harcourt and was runner-up at Group 1 level in Germany. His Hello Gorgeous half-sister Libertine had a similar record on the racecourse, being a Group 2 winner in Italy and she was third in the French 1000 Guineas, the very race won by her relation last week.

The third stakes winner was Harmless Albatross, a daughter of Pas De Seul, and she was Group 1 placed in the Prix Marcel Boussac. At stud she left five stakes winners, the best being the Grade 2 winner Volochine.

One daughter of North Forland who failed to win or place was Gourgandine, a daughter of the Ballykisteen Stud stallion Auction Ring. She had just two foals before she was sent to India, at the time a place from which we expected to hear no good news. Out there however she enjoyed great success and her offspring included two winners of the Calcutta Gold Cup, Avalanche Star and Allied Forces, and the Golconda St Leger winner Perceived Value.

One of the pair of foals left in this part of the world was a filly by Law Society, named Belle de Cadix. Closely related to Fortune’s Field, she was sold from Knocktoran Stud as a foal and eventually ended up in the ownership of Malcolm Parrish. Put in training with John Oxx, he cajoled a win in an apprentice maiden at Wexford out of here before she was reacquired by Knocktoran.

All but one of the 11 foals out of Belle De Cadix ran and seven of them won. The best of them were a pair of fillies, Whipper’s daughter Dolled Up and Zeiting, a daughter of Zieten. Dolled Up was speedy and won the Group 3 Prix du Bois at two, was placed in the Prix Robert Papin and was beaten less than a length behind Arcano, Special Duty and Canford Cliffs when fourth in the Group 1 Prix Morny.

Zeiting was retained by Brendan Hayes (he and Anne Marie generally keep three fillies each year from their families to race) and she won the Listed Prix Zeddaan in France before capturing three stakes victories in the USA. She has been a revelation at stud and her eight winners to date include five stakes performers. The Refuse To Bend gelding Combat Zone was a Group 2 winner in Germany, while the Teofilo full-brothers Royal Empire and Scottish gained their most important successes in the Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes and the Listed Doonside Cup.

In addition to these three stakes winners, Zeiting is also dam of the stakes-placed fillies Bikini Babe and Zut Alors. The former is by Montjeu and she was multiple group-placed and is now a successful young broodmare. She too resides at Knocktoran where she has a yearling colt by Kodiac, a colt foal by Dark Angel and is in foal to Lope De Vega.

Zeiting has a yearling filly by Siyouni, was barren last year and is in foal now to Teofilo.

Zut Alors, a daughter of Pivotal (Polar Falcon) was placed at group and listed level in France and Germany but she has made a bigger splash at stud, producing four winners to date from her first four runners, headed by the weekend’s classic heroine. She also has a two-year-old Dark Angel half-brother with Richard Fahey named Delph Crescent which was sold from Knocktoran for 90,000gns as a foal. This year Zut Alors has a filly foal by Kodiac and, not surprisingly, revisits Tamayuz.

In addition to Precieuse, Brendan and Anne Marie also raced her Whipper half-sister Peut Etre and she won a couple of races in France and was group-placed. She is now among the broodmares in Limerick where she has a yearling filly by Le Havre, a colt foal by Lope De Vega and is visiting Make Believe.

Future plans for Precieuse are somewhat fluid, as her usual pilot says she has ‘vitesse naturelle’ (natural speed), and her pedigree also suggests that she could step up in trip. It is a lovely dilemma for her owner/breeders.

A final word about her sire Tamayuz. A top-class miler from the family of Galileo and Sea The Stars, he represents exceptional value at just €8,000 at Derrinstown Stud. He is also sire of the Group 1 winning sprinter G Force (who was also bred by Knocktoran Stud in partnership with Kildaragh Stud), the successful young sire Sir Prancelot and about a dozen other Group 2, 3 and listed winners.