BLOODSTOCK agent and ace talent spotter Tom Malone spent £5,200 at the Tattersalls Ireland Ascot Summer Sale six years ago on the five-year-old Coole Cody, who had earlier won a point-to-point at Kildorrery by 20 lengths from one other finisher.

He could hardly have envisaged that his cheap purchase, bred by Timmy Considine, would go on to win four hurdle races, five chases and earn close to £350,000 so far. The now 11-year-old showed that he retains all of his zest for racing when he won what was just a two-runner Grade 2 1965 Chase at Ascot on Saturday. His sole opponent was the odds-on favourite Saint Calvados.

Coole Cody has a special liking for Cheltenham where he has been successful three times at Grade 3 level over fences, and he won last weekend just seven days after Adam Wedge sensibly pulled him up at Cheltenham when he made a bad mistake. His care for the horse paid a rich dividend at the weekend with a £40,000 first prize.

A half-brother to the Grade 3 winning chaser Fine Parchment (Presenting), and a full-brother to a winning chaser in Trigger Nichol (Dubai Destination), Coole Cody is also a sibling to a couple of point-to-point winners. They are all out of Run For Cover, a John Flower-bred daughter of Lafontaine (Sham) who won five times over fences and was trained by Nerys Dutfield.

Run For Cover was one of seven winners out of Run For Shelter (Strong Gale). Best of these was Fundamentalist (Supreme Leader). Winner of three point-to-points, he joined Nigel Twiston-Davies and beat Inglis Drever in a thrilling renewal of the Grade 1 Royal and SunAlliance Novices’ Hurdle at Cheltenham back in 2004, with Carl Llewellyn in the plate. He didn’t reach the same heights over fences, but was a Grade 2 Cheltenham winner over the larger obstacles,

Barter’s Hill

Two of Run For Shelter’s half-sisters bred graded National Hunt winners, Best of those two was the unraced Circle The Wagons (Commanche Run), responsible for the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle winner, and Grade 2 Weatherbys Aintree Bumper winner, Barters Hill (Kalanisi), but it is also worth mentioning Another Tempest (Old Vic). She was placed a few times and her son Aldo The Apache (Shantou) won a Grade B hurdle at Naas last year.

A big clue as to where this family’s love for Cheltenham, in particular, comes from might be found with the third dam of Coole Cody, Falcade (Falcon). She is the dam of five winners and the grandam of the Punchestown Grade 1 bumper winner Our Bid (Electric). The best of her winners was the brilliant two-mile chaser Badsworth Boy (Will Hays).

Bred by Michael Morrin as a flat racer, Badsworth Boy completed a hat-trick from 1983 to 1985 in the Grade 1 Queen Mother Champion Chase. In so doing, he also became a winner for all three members of the Dickinson family as Tony, Michael and Monica all trained him in turn. When you think of prize money nowadays, it is remarkable to think he became the 12th horse in National Hunt jumping history to pass the £100,000 earnings mark.

Boy’s career

Badsworth Boy was trained at two by Snowy Wainwright and ran eight times, winning twice at Beverley in the summer. He was then sold to Doug Armitage, gelded, and in his first season over jumps he won a race at Sedgefield and finished third in the Grade 1 Triumph Hurdle.

In all he claimed victory eight times over hurdles and 18 times over fences.

In the first of his three Champion Chase triumphs, Badsworth Boy won by a distance from Artifice, with his stablemate and favourite Rathgorman, the previous year’s winner, well behind. In 1984, he had 10 lengths to spare over Little Bay, and, in his final success, he finished the same distance in front of Far Bridge. He is the only horse to win the race three times. Michael Dickinson described him as the best horse he ever trained.