THE first meeting of the season at Cheltenham is just two weeks away and recent Roscommon winner Menindee could be on the way there to represent trainer David Christie and owner-breeder David Kells.

A seven-year-old mare by Yeats, Menindee has won five times under rules for connections already and her Roscommon success unlocked an extra €5,000 for the owner as the handicap chase was part of the Weatherbys ITBA National Hunt Fillies Bonus Scheme.

David Kells told us: “We were a bit surprised she won so well at Roscommon as the ground was soft if not heavy in places. She prefers good ground so we are looking at the amateur riders’ chase at Cheltenham or we could wait for Down Royal the following week, if the ground is more suitable there.”

From outside Moneymore in Co Derry, David has four National Hunt mares which he keeps himself. “I’ve been breeding since 2004. My first mare was Menindee’s dam Silver Tassie, who we bought in Arqana on the advice of Jeremy Maxwell.

“She has bred a few notable ones. Another Mattie was trained by Nick Alexander in Scotland and won three chases and was placed numerous times.

“Another half-sister, Corella Creek, I raced myself and she won four point-to-points. The most memorable was in Kinsale in 2017. Barry O’Neill rode her that day. He had four winners and won his first riders’ title. The race committee looked after us very well.”

Silver Tassie, now 23 years of age, has a Fifty Stars filly foal at foot but was not covered this year. Corella Creek has a Sumbal colt foal, and both foals will be sold at Tattersalls Ireland next February.

Another half-sister to Menindee named Keen Blade has a filly foal by Sumbal and David also has an unrelated Definite Article mare named Killing Pace who is in foal to the same Boardsmill Stud stallion.

Like the majority of racehorse owners – especially breeders – David can only afford to have one in training at any particular time, though Menindee has clearly paid her way. “I generally sell them as foals. Although Menindee never went to a sale she was on the market.”

The €5,000 bonus she won at Roscommon was the icing on the cake. “I remember Regina Byrne [formerly of the ITBA] telling me about the scheme at a breeders’ meeting when it was first being introduced and I thought it was a great idea,” David recalled.

“I always nominate my fillies to the scheme and this is the first bonus I have won. I thought I had missed my chance to win. Menindee never ran in a bumper and she didn’t win a maiden hurdle, but the scheme now covers additional mares’ races, like the handicap chase at Roscommon.”

And where did the name Menindee come from? “It’s the name of an Aboriginal town in New South Wales,” he explained. “My mother’s maiden name is King and one of her ancestors was John King, who was part of the Burke and Wills expedition which crossed Australia – from Melbourne in the south to Flinders River in the north – in 1860-’61. Menindee and Corella Creek were two stopping points along the way.”

David was too modest to mention it but an online search told us that John King was the only man to make it back to Melbourne alive and therefore the first person to ever complete that journey.

You need plenty of stamina and determination to be a successful breeder and perhaps this is where David got his from!