TWO Grade 1 winning hurdlers were responsible for bumper winners recently, and are certainly worthy of mention in this column.

Baby Kate travelled from the Co Carlow stables of Willie Mullins to Ballinrobe to contest the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies INH Flat Race, and the four-year-old daughter of Champs Elysees (Danehill) was making her debut in the colours of the Gorm agus Ban Syndicate. Partnered by Patrick Mullins, and an odds-on favourite, Baby Kate didn’t disappoint, winning with what looked like something in hand.

This was a true case of déjà vu for connections. Two years earlier, the same owners, trainer and rider won the race with a filly called Nikini, also making her debut, and she has gone on to win twice over hurdles and been runner-up in a Grade 3 hurdle race. Hopefully Baby Kate can prove to be just as good, or maybe even better. She is certainly bred to be a good one.

Baby Kate is the first produce of Augusta Kate, and she was bred by the former Irish international soccer player Kevin Doyle. He purchased Augusta Kate, carrying her first foal, for €85,000, and that was after the daughter of Yeats (Sadler’s Wells) had enjoyed a stellar career on the track. Augusta Kate won just five races, but two of her three bumper successes were in listed races, while her pair of hurdle victories were highlighted by her triumph in the Grade 1 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Novice Hurdle at Fairyhouse.

This is a family in which mares have done very well. Little wonder then that Augusta Kate’s second produce, a three-year-old filly by Flemensfirth (Alleged), sold for €75,000 to Bryan Cooper this year at the Derby Sale, and Kevin Doyle has a two-year-old filly by Maxios (Monsun) at his Slaney River Stud. Augusta Kate has a strong family reputation to uphold, as her first three dams all bred a blacktype winner over jumps.

The dam of Augusta Kate is Feathard Lady (Accordion), and she was a true rags to riches story. Bought for IR900gns as a foal by Jamestown House Stud, she went on to win two bumpers and five hurdle races, notably the Grade 1 Christmas Hurdle at Sandown, and sold for a record 270,000gns. Trained by Colm Murphy, Feathard Lady never tasted defeat on the racecourse, and she ended her career on the track with a 12-length victory in the Sandown feature.

Worth retelling

While the story of Feathard Lady’s success is probably well-enough known, it is always worth retelling. Bred by veterinary surgeon Christy Condon, she was sold as a foal through Rathbarry Stud at the Goffs December Sale in 2000.

Tim Nolan from Jamestown House Stud purchased her and then formed a syndicate to race her. Feathard Lady ended her racing career with earnings of €146,000, which also included a Grade 3 hurdle at Fairyhouse.

While Augusta Kate is the only winner to date for Feathard Lady, that mare is the best of six winners from Lady Rolfe (Alzao), who showed a glimmer of form on the first of only two starts for the late John Hassett. Lady Rolfe’s siblings included the Auteuil listed hurdle winner Invite D’Honneur (Be My Guest). That was one of his three wins over jumps, though he was six times successful on the flat and stakes-placed on the level.

Interestingly, Feathard Lady was offered for sale at DBS when she was carrying Augusta Kate, but she was led out unsold at £190,000.

Just as Baby Kate’s name would give some indication of her breeding, so too does the name Aurora Vega. This five-year-old daughter of Walk In The Park (Montjeu) started at the prohibitive odds of 1/7 when easily winning her second bumper at Killarney, adding to a June victory at Sligo, her only two starts to date. She was bred by and races for the Hammer and Trowel Syndicate, and they also race her full-brother Facile Vega (Walk In The Park), while they enjoyed huge success with their dam Quevega (Robin Des Champs).

Highest level

Unbeaten in four bumpers, headed by Grade 1 wins at Cheltenham in the Weatherbys Champion Bumper and Punchestown, Facile Vega ended his first season hurdling with three wins, twice at Grade 1 level, and a runner-up spot at the highest level in Cheltenham. He has now won more than £300,000 for his owner/breeders, Ger O’Brien and Sean Deane, who race and breed as the Hammer and Trowel Syndicate.

Facile Vega is one of three winners from the first three foals of Quevega, and what a star that mare was for O’Brien and Deane. She was a three-time winner in France before being acquired to race from Willie Mullins’ yard. From there, Quevega added 13 wins over hurdles from just 18 starts. She won the Grade 1 Tipperkevin Hurdle at Punchestown on four occasions and the Grade 2 David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival a record six times.

Quevega’s first foal, Princess Vega (Beat Hollow), also raced for the Hammer and Trowel Syndicate and made a winning bumper debut at Tramore. O’Brien and Deane can now look forward to a number of younger siblings, including a yearling full-brother to the Cheltenham hero.