LAST week Jeremy (Danehill Dancer) was mentioned in this column thanks to the victory of his son Jerrysback, and now he is in again following the Grade 3 Grimes Hurdle success of his eight-year-old daughter Santa Rossa.

This homebred mare of Tilly Conway has been a model of consistency, though she has very few miles on the clock since she made a winning debut at Fairyhouse in mid-December 2018. Last weekend was just her tenth visit to the racecourse, and she has won five, been placed three times and never finished worse than fifth. She is also a Grade 2 bumper winner, at the 2019 Dublin Racing Festival, and she has been placed at the same level in an Aintree bumper and over hurdles.

While Santa Rossa’s fourth dam, the Yorkshire Oaks runner-up Border Bounty (Bounteous), has left an indelible mark on breeding – her descendants include Invincible Spirit (Green Desert), Mishriff (Make Believe) and Pinatubo (Shamardal) – it is also no surprise that it would yield an occasional talented National Hunt performer.

Santa Rossa’s unraced dam Panther Moon (Almutawakel) has three winning siblings, all of whom won over hurdles, and their dam Handora (Hernando), a winner from just three starts, was a half-sister to the leading stayer Assessor (Niniski). Runner-up in the Group 1 Ascot Gold Cup, he went one better in France where he was successful in a pair of Group 1 races, the Prix du Cadran and the Prix Royal Oak.

Notable sire

As good as he was as a racehorse, today Assessor will more likely be known by jump racing fans as the sire of such notable performers as Anibale Fly, Reve De Sivola and My Way De Solzen. Assessor’s own-sister Walliser (Niniski) was a stakes-placed winner of four races, and she is grandam of Bob Le Beau (Big Bad Bob).

This listed winner in Ireland for Jessica Harrington went to America and won a large chunk of their best jump races, most at Grade 1 level there.