LAST weekend’s The Irish Field featured a full page advertisement on the outside back cover for Santiago (Authorized).

On the page were three outstanding foals by the Group 1 Irish Derby and Group 2 Queen’s Vase winner, and they are from the Castlehyde Stud sire’s first crop. The team in Fermoy won’t have been disappointed to see that, on Easter Monday, another son of the Group 1 Epsom Derby winner Authorized (Montjeu), I Am Maximus, was given an incredible ride by Paul Townend to win the BoyleSports Irish Grand National.

The combined talents of Townend, trainer Willie Mullins and owner J.P. McManus came together to earn a well-deserved victory in the feature with the seven-year-old French-bred, and this was just the gelding’s tenth run, but the first in the Limerick colours of McManus. Bred by Ron Huggins of Double Trigger fame and George Tiney, I Am Maximus sold as a yearling at Arqana to Horse Racing Advisory (Hubert Barbe) for €26,000.

Making a winning racecourse debut at Cheltenham in a bumper, trained by Nicky Henderson for Mike Grech, I Am Maximus also won over hurdles and was runner-up to Hillcrest in a listed hurdle race, again at Cheltenham, before running fourth in the Grade 1 Ballymore Novices’ Hurdle last year at the same venue. Transferred to Willie Mullins, he was short-headed by Minella Crooner on his chasing debut, while also catching the eye when fourth in a pair of Grade 1 chases at Leopardstown and Cheltenham.

I Am Maximus’ latter run impressed JP McManus and he was encouraged to splash the cash and take ownership of the bay, and the investment was rewarded in spades with his win on Monday, four decades after the Limerick native won the race for the first time with Bit Of A Skite.

Notable

With Sadler’s Wells (Northern Dancer) responsible for both I Am Maximus’ grandsire, Montjeu, and his dam sire, Poliglote, the influence of that former Coolmore multiple champion is notable.

I Am Maximus is one of six winners produced by the stakes-placed Polysheba, and she was a winner at two in France and in the USA at four. Bred by the Wertheimer brothers, her many placed efforts included finishing third in the Listed Prix Isola Bella at Saint-Cloud.

I Am Maximus is the fifth winner from Polysheba, all of the first four being successful on the level, but the sixth winner is a full-brother to the Irish Grand National winner, All Authorized (Authorized). The latter was a €45,000 Arqana yearling purchase who made a tidy profit, selling for €110,000 as a three-year-old at last year’s Goffs Land Rover Sale to Gary Moore Racing.

Six days before the Irish Grand National, All Authorized, the last of 11 foals from his dam, made his debut in a bumper at Fontwell, was sent off a hot favourite, and he was impressive in victory, in spite of running green. He looks set for a bright future.

Assurer

Polysheba was one of eight winners out of Ganasheba (Alysheba), and the only other one of them to earn blacktype was her full-brother Assurer (Poliglote). He won a couple of times and was twice runner-up in listed hurdle races at Auteuil. Mind you, the Wertheimer brothers were probably expecting something else from Ganasheba, who was placed many times but couldn’t manage to get her head in front, despite the best efforts of trainer Criquette Head.

Ganasheba had two stakes-winning half-brothers, but both were special. Cahill Road (Fappiano) won the Grade 1 Wood Memorial Stakes, but his efforts paled by comparison with his year-older brother, Unbridled (Fappiano). That colt was rated the best of his generation at three when he won the Grade 1 Kentucky Derby, later adding the Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Classic. He went on to become an influential stallion.

Authorized

What a pity that the Group 1 Derby, Racing Post Trophy and Juddmonte International winner Authorized should have moved to Turkey, where he will stand for a fee of €12,500 this year. The 19-year-old stood under the Darley banner in Britain, for a season in Ireland, and latterly in France before he covered for the first time in Turkey in 2020.

He has done pretty well with his runners under both codes, his flat winners at the highest level being made up of Ambivalent, Complacent, Hartnell, Pounamu, Santiago and Seal Of Approval. His daughters have produced the Group 1 winners Top Ranked and Teona.

Over jumps Authorized will forever have a place in the history books as the sire of the dual Randox Grand National winner Tiger Roll, while other notable performers under National Hunt rules include Nichols Canyon, Echoes In Rain, Goshen and now I Am Maximus.