A WINNER in any circumstances is something to savour, but when family is involved the moment is all the sweeter.

The story of a win for Grannys Yaris in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Bumper at Tramore last month had family to the core for owner Charles Flattery, and it also meant a first winner for teenage amateur rider Finbarr Brickley.

The Nigel Slevin-trained mare won pretty readily on her fourth career start and has already performed well above what might have been expected from her purchase price of €2,500 as a store.

In fact, the well-bought Jet Away mare earned double her purchase price in one hit from collecting a €5,000 Weatherbys ITBA NH Fillies Bonus, as well as picking up €6,600 in prize money.

On how he came to source the bargain buy, Flattery explained: “I keep a small few horses and breed from them over the years, and my daughter Charlotte had been interested in getting involved in the game. When she was 14 and her brother Stephen was 11, they said they wouldn’t mind buying a horse so we went over to Tattersalls Ireland and got to work.

Bargain buy

“Charlotte looked through the catalogue and picked out four or five horses in the sale before we had a look at them. She liked a colt in the sale but leaned away from him in the end because he had more of a flat background, so instead she followed in the mare now called Grannys Yaris and bought her for €2,500.

“Charlotte obviously has a good eye and plans on working with horses. Between the two of them at home, they broke the mare and got her going. My young fella wants to be a jockey all of his life but he might be a bit tall for the job - he’s around 6ft 5in tall and is only 14!”

Flattery, based in Summerhill, Co Meath, cites patience as a key factor in the progress of Grannys Yaris, a six-year-old who finished third in a Ballinrobe bumper prior to her breakthrough win at Tramore.

“She was a little soft and weak when she made her first start at Limerick [in May 2022],” he said.

“I ended up having a bit of an accident myself last year and was in hospital due to a head injury I had in the yard one evening, and that’s why the mare didn’t go back into training until this year. Nigel Slevin is just down the road from me here and we’re great friends. I have farming land here and Nigel brings a few horses to us over the winter - it works both ways that I can go down to him too.

Patience pays off

“I’m a firm believer that a lot of horses are rushed too young nowadays. This mare only ran once as a five-year-old and has now come good for us at six. She was given the time to develop into herself and I sometimes wonder about how long horses who are rushed to be four-year-old point-to-pointers really last.

“We raced a nice mare before called Miss Dinamic, who was soft and weak as a four-year-old and we gave just one run to her that year in a bumper. She had four runs at five, winning a point-to-point and running well in bumpers, and she went on to win three hurdles and three chases afterwards. She got blacktype too. Horses come to themselves when they’re good enough and strong enough.”

A tilt at a listed bumper could now be on the cards for the six-length Tramore winner, and Flattery was eager to express his delight at picking up the Weatherbys ITBA NH Bonus.

“I really want to stress that I think the scheme is an absolutely fantastic initiative for everyone,” said Flattery.

Bonus value

“There were 16 horses declared for the bumper she won at Tramore and eight qualified on the scheme. I can’t understand anyone’s reasoning behind not signing up for the scheme. Spending €200 now could see you end up with €15,000 in bonuses. I think it’s absolutely brilliant and this was my third time to collect off it.”

One question remains, though. How did the promising mare happen to receive her somewhat peculiar name?

Flattery explained: “My mother lives with us at home - we built a granny flat for her - and we changed her car before to buy a Toyota Yaris.

“Last year when I was in hospital we were trying to name the horse, so we put down Grannys Yaris because of her car - I think the mare is faster than the Yaris! Actually, the clutch went in the car just before the mare ran.

“The registration of the car is 04 and when we had the winner in Tramore, Grannys Yaris was number four on the racecard. You never know what is meant to be for you any given day.”