THE death of Many Clouds cast a shadow on the racing world last weekend. The great favourite was winning for the 12th time when beating Thistlecrack in the Grade 2 Cotswold Chase, boosting his earnings to well over £900,000. The Aintree Grand National winner was a son of Cloudings, who stands at James Hannon’s The Old Road Stud in Tallow. A son of Sadler’s Wells, Cloudings won the Group 1 Prix Lupin.

Last Tuesday at Tattersalls Ireland a just turned yearling filly by Cloudings out of the unraced Deploy mare Deploythetank was sold for €8,500. This would look to have been a good buy as her dam is a half-sister to not only Many Clouds, but also to the two-time Grade 1 winning hurdler and Grade 1-placed chaser The Tullow Tank. He is a son of Oscar.