LEOVANNI provided breeders Michael and Ciara Carty of Kilmoney Cottage Stud in Rathangan, Co Kildare with a first Royal Ascot winner when she won the Group 2 Queen Mary Stakes on Wednesday.

By Kodi Bear out of Kassandra (by Dandy Man), Leovanni was sold for just 20,000gns as a yearling in Book 3 of the Tattersalls October Sale. She was consigned to the Goffs UK Breeze Up Sale by George Peckham and was bought by Blandford Bloodstock (on behalf of Wathnan Racing) for £190,000.

Trained by Karl Burke, Leovanni is now unbeaten in two starts and looks set to be one of the two-year-old stars of the season.

The Cartys were not at Ascot this week but were thrilled with the result. “Everybody wants to breed a Queen Mary winner,” Ciara told me.

Michael and Ciara saw the potential in Leovanni. “Even as a foal she was very strong and correct. She’s always had a great attitude and was straightforward. She was definitely a stand-out at the yearling sales that morning. She was very relaxed and it says a lot about a horse when they take that well to a new environment.”

They were quick to compliment George Peckham on the job he did to prepare the filly for the breeze-ups this spring. such good shape for the breeze-ups. Leovanni was the final lot to gallop that day and she was 16th fastest on the clock so her proud breeders weren’t surprised when she was sold for £190,000.

Michael said: “Her time was good and she stretched out well. She was a sharp filly.”

The Cartys now hope that their young mare Kassandra can keep producing the goods. She doesn’t have a yearling this year but does have a filly foal by Ghaiyyath on the ground. “At least she has now proven that she can breed a very good horse,” Ciara said.

Another notable graduate of Kilmoney Cottage Stud is Kerdos, who finished an impressive fifth of 17 in Tuesday’s Group 1 King Charles III Stakes. Ciara said: “A bit more cut in the ground should bring more out of him.” Michael also noted that Kerdos had beaten Ascot winner Asfoora when then met previously in the Group 2 Temple Stakes at Haydock.

The Cartys certainly have an eye for talent, famously pinhooking 10-time Grade 1 winner Altior and Cheltenham Festival winner Minella Rocco, who were reared in the same field. They also bred Salubrious, winner of the 2013 Martin Pipe Conditional Jockeys’ Handicap Hurdle, and now the couple are in an exclusive club of breeders to boast winners at both Royal Ascot and the Cheltenham Festival.