THE influence of Montjeu (Sadler’s Wells) as a sire of sires in National Hunt circles is well-known, and at Galway it was one of his daughters who was to the fore. A winner in France at three, Shamarbelle (Montjeu) is dam of three winners, and her star is the Grade 3 Galway Hurdle winner Nurburgring.

He too was a winner on the flat at three, over 13 furlongs, but has found his forte over hurdles, his three wins under National Hunt rules also including the Grade 3 Juvenile Hurdle at Fairyhouse. The Joseph O’Brien-trained four-year-old gelding carries the colours of Bronsan Racing, and was bred in partnership by Annemarie O’Brien.

What a pity that Nurburgring was gelded after he had passed the winning post in front on two occasions over hurdles, though he was demoted once. He would have been a fascinating stallion prospect. One of the best juvenile hurdlers in Ireland, he was Grade 1-placed at Punchestown in the Champion Four-Year-Old Hurdle.

Zoffany

Nurburgring is a son of Zoffany (Dansili), a Group 1 juvenile winner who was a smart miler at three, though he did not win over the distance. He was runner-up in both the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes and the Prix Jean Prat. He is the sire of five Group 1 winners, and last year two of them made headlines. His daughter Albigna sold to MV Magnier at Goffs for €3,700,000, while the Falmouth Stakes winner Prosperous Voyage was bought by Katsumi Yoshida for 2,400,000gns at Newmarket.

Those two fillies, along with the 1000 Guineas heroine Mother Earth, National Stakes winner Thunder Moon and the Italian Gran Premio de Jockey Club winner Ventura Storm make up his Group 1 roll of honour. Sadly, Zoffany died in 2021, and Nurburgring is his highest-rated runner over jumps.

Nurburgring was bred to be a high-class flat horse. His unplaced half-sister Shandora (Speightstown) is the dam of Sos Genia (Seeking The Dia), and she won a Group 1 at two in Chile. Shamarbelle is an own-sister to the smart Geoffrey Chaucer (Montjeu), winner of the Group 2 Beresford Stakes at two.

However, that form is some way off that of their half-brother Shamardal (Giants Causeway). The best of his age in Europe at two, and the best miler at three, he won the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes before becoming a dual classic winner in France at three.

Successful sires

In addition to capturing the Group 1 Poule d’Essai des Poulains-French 2000 Guineas and Prix du Jockey Club-French Derby, Shamardal won the Group 1 St James’s Palace Stakes, and he has gone on to become an influential sire. This is a female line that is well-versed in producing successful stallions.

Nurburgring’s third dam Helen Street (Troy), the Group 1 Irish Oaks winner, bred the Group 1 Dubai Gold Cup winner and notable sire Street Cry (Machiavellian), while also descending from her is the Group 1 winner and Darley sire Territories (Invincible Spirit), mentioned elsewhere this week as the sire of Group 1 winner Lazzat. Darley also stands another son of Shamardal from this line, the Group 1 two-year-old and French classic winner Victor Ludorum, and his first yearlings will be on sale this autumn.

The Galway Hurdle winner is not the first blacktype winner over jumps in the immediate family. His dam Shamarbelle’s winning half-sister Helsinka (Pennekamp) bred Straight To It (Giant’s Causeway). That gelding, a $500,000 yearling, was a successful and durable runner over jumps in the USA, his many wins there including the New Jersey Hunt Cup at Far Hills, and the Radnor Hunt Cup Timber Chase at Malvern twice.

Meade doubles up for Plate victory

TEN years after he won the race for the first time, Noel Meade produced another winner of the Grade 3 Galway Plate, this time with the lightly-raced but very consistent Pinkerton. The son of Ocovango (Monsun) is another star from his sire’s first crop.

Bred by Jimmy Mangan, Pinkerton was sold as a three-year-old at the Goffs Land Rover Sale for €21,000 to Meade, and raced initially for the trainer.

He has only started 14 times, been out of the first three on only two occasions, and this was his fifth career success, and third over fences. His wins also include a listed chase at Punchestown, and he had a number of smart placed efforts over hurdles.

Ocovango moved to stand at the Skelton’s Alne Park Stud in Warwickshire for the 2023 season, and this year covered for a fee of £4,500. This was a 50% increase on his first year there, and he moved to England after eight seasons at The Beeches Stud. His results did not match the support he had received, leading to his relocation, but he is no one-horse stallion.

Ocovango

Bred by the Lloyd-Webbers’ Watership Down Stud and trained by André Fabre, Ocovango was one of the best three-year-olds in France, and Timeform rated him 120 in Racehorses of 2013.

Sold for €180,000 at Deauville as a yearling, Ocovango raced only once as a two-year-old, when he won a maiden race over a mile at Saint-Cloud.

He reappeared the next spring in the Listed Prix Francois Mathet, also at Saint-Cloud, and scored comfortably. Ocovango completed the hat-trick in the Group 2 Prix Greffulhe over 10 furlongs at the same venue in May, and then headed, unbeaten, to the Group 1 Derby and finished fifth, only two lengths behind Ruler Of The World.

Following that, Ocovango lined up for the Group 1 Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp, where he was a creditable third to Flintshire. In the Group 2 Prix Niel in September he was third, less than a length behind the Japanese Derby hero Kizuna and Ruler Of The World, with Flintshire fourth, but he was unplaced for the first time in the Group 1 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe. Kept in training at four, he showed little of the form he displayed the previous year.

Langer Dan

Ocovango first came to real attention as a sire when his son Langer Dan won the Grade 3 Imperial Cup Hurdle, and that gelding went on to win three more races at that level, notably the Coral Cup twice at Cheltenham.

Another son from that first crop, Champ Kiely, did even better and won the Grade 1 Slaney Hurdle at Naas, and now Pinkerton is a third blacktype winner from those born in 2016.

Pinkerton is the first foal out of the unraced Mistress Pope (Catcher In The Rye), and her second, Eden Mill (Leading Light), won a handicap hurdle at Kelso last November. An unnamed filly followed, as did the unraced five-year-old Potters Voyage (Sans Frontieres), a four-year-old filly by Soldier Of Fortune (Galileo), and a two-year-old filly by Order Of St George (Galileo).

Both of Mistress Pope’s winning siblings were placed at Grade 2 level, eight-time winner Frascati Park (Bach) and five-time winning chaser Fix The Rib (Dr Massini).

Their unraced half-sister That’s Amazing (Marignan) bred Mister Fisher (Jeremy), and he won seven races. Over the smaller obstacles he won the Grade 2 Rossington Main Novices’ Hurdle, and then won three ties at Grade 2 level over fences.