GROUND conditions played into the hands of Splash Of Ginge who landed the biggest prize of his career to date when winning the Grade 3 BetVictor Gold Cup at Cheltenham at the weekend, on ground similar to that which had seen him win the Betfair Hurdle at Newbury three years earlier. The son of Oscar (Sadler’s Wells) was bred by Stewart Pike and sold by his Synderborough Farm through Goldford Stud to Highflyer Bloodstock for £20,000 as a four-year-old at the DBS (now Goffs UK) Spring Sale.

On Saturday he was winning for just the sixth time in a 37-race career and brought his earnings to more than £270,000. He was also a Grade 3 winner over fences at Cheltenham back in 2015 when he beat Hunt Ball.

Stewart Pike bred just two foals from Land Of Honour, an unraced daughter of Supreme Leader (Bustino). Splash Of Ginge was the second of them. He then sold the mare at the 2008 Tattersalls Ireland November Sale for €65,000 to Mags Melody who went on to produce three offspring from her new acquisition, all by Presenting (Mtoto).

fort smith

The foal she was carrying at the time of her purchase was sold in the year of his birth to Martin Cullinane for €33,000 and re-sold as a three-year-old for €100,000, Named Fort Smith, he was runner-up in the Grade 3 For Auction Novice Hurdle and recently joined Oliver Sherwood. He actually failed to win over hurdles but was successful in a bumper and twice over fences.

Mags Melody eventually made profit on her mare purchase when the now five-year-old Booyakasha was sold by her at the Goffs Land Rover Sale through Rathmore Stud for €120,000 to Gerry Griffin. He has made a single start to date for Nicky Richards.

Land Of Honour was entitled to sell well when she went to the sales. She was a half-sister to five winners and the best of these was the well-known and top-class chaser See More Business (Seymour Hicks). The Paul Nicholls-trained chaser played a pivotal role in the career of the trainer, who once described him as a “horse of a lifetime”. As well as his victory in the 1999 Gold Cup, See More Business was hugely impressive winning the same year’s King George VI Chase at Kempton by 17 lengths, having won the same race two years earlier.

He had a special relationship with Mick Fitzgerald who rode him in 11 of his 18 victories. The gelding enjoyed a great start to his career, winning his first start over hurdles under AP McCoy at Chepstow in November 1995.

See More Business and Land Of Honour are out of the Dubassoff (Sea Bird II) mare Miss Redlands and another of her unraced daughters, a full-sister to Splash Of Ginge’s dam, was Land Of Glory. While she has not produced a blacktype winner, her five winning progeny include the smart duo of Land Of Vic (Old Vic) and Kayf Blanco (Kayf Tara).

This is a family best known for producing top chasers and Scotch Tune (Tartan), the fourth dam of Splash Of Ginge, was a chase and multiple point-to-point winner. The best of her winners was Even Melody (Even Money) and he won major chases at Cheltenham and Aintree, notably the 1977 Massey-Ferguson Gold Cup, while being runner-up in the same year’s Mackeson Gold Cup. Another big race winner at Aintree was Scotch Tune’s grandson Delius (The Parson) who won the big novices’ chase at the April meeting almost 30 years ago.