IF you’re looking for an example of the good value offered by fillies at National Hunt sales, Mousey Brown is the pin-up girl.

Owner Alan Smith from North Co Dublin bought her at the 2020 Tattersalls Ireland May Sale for just over €5,000. She was bred by L.W. Doran at Dimond Stud. Trained by Alan’s good friend Dermot McLoughlin, the Califet mare made her debut in January and has run seven times to-date, winning a point-to-point, a bumper and a maiden hurdle.

As well as the prize money won and and enhancing her value by multiples of her purchase price, Mousey Brown is also one of eight fillies to win a €5,000 Weatherbys ITBA NH Fillies Bonus in June. Speaking from Tattersalls in Newmarket this week, Alan told us: “I was pleasantly surprised when I got the letter informing me of the €5,000 bonus. To be honest, I don’t remember nominating her!

“It only costs €200 to put your filly in the scheme and I’m a big supporter of these self-help initiatives. I went back and checked the racecard and only four of the 13 fillies in Mousey Brown’s hurdle race were eligible for the bonus. I couldn’t believe it.

“Ever since the race I’ve been telling lads to make sure they sign up for the Bonus Scheme. We’re hoping to win another €5,000 when Mousey Brown runs in a beginners’ chase at Kilbeggan next Friday!”

Recalling the day he bought Mousey Brown, Alan said: “It was August 2020, a few months into Covid, and my business was gone quiet. J.D. Moore met me at the sales and said I had to buy this filly as she was the best walker he had seen at any of the store sales that year.

“We got her cheaply and I sent her to a friend who broke her in and got her riding. She went to Dermot’s a year later but she was a big mare, a bit tricky, and took a long time to get going. She was half-ready to run in April 2022 but the ground got too quick and we decided to leave her off.

“We thought we had her ready for a point-to-point at Tattersalls last December but she wasn’t ready mentally. She is full of exuberance and needs a hood in the preliminaries to get her settled.

“Finally we were ready to run her in Tyrella at the end of January this year. The day before the race Dermot broke his leg hunting with the Wards but he told me ‘this mare won’t be beaten’.”

Sure enough, Mousey Brown won by nine lengths at Tyrella but Alan wasn’t going to sell her at that stage after all the time he had waited for a good one.

Needs a trip

She had a few bumper runs before getting her head in front in a Wexford bumper on May 31st. That was against males so there was no ITBA bonus on offer. Connections believed the mare needed a trip, hence the decision to run her over two and a half miles, even if it meant taking on males. Mousey Brown returned to Wexford on June 21st for a mares’ maiden hurdle – again over two and a half miles – and she won well under Mick Molloy, who has been instrumental in getting the mare to settle.

It’s surprising to hear that “nobody has been banging down the door” to buy her but Alan would be happy to keep Mousey Brown for the paddocks if the right offer does not come along. He already has a broodmare and is a big supporter of Peter Maher in Blackrath Stud in Athy, Co Kildare, where he has several Policy Maker foals coming through.

“I might keep Mousey Brown as well,” he said. “It’s rare you get one as good as this, so well-made and so sound. It’s been unbelievable. She’s been a dream so far. Every time you put her out in the paddock she looks like she needs to have a run. She’s a good grubber and has a great constitution.” Alan has been there for all her runs, even dashing from a job in Cork to see the Wexford bumper win.

“Fair play to Wexford – they always have safe ground. They make a huge effort to get it right, there’s always a bit of yielding in it there.” Watch out for Mousey Brown when she tackles fences, possibly as soon as next Friday in Kilbeggan. “She’s a fantastic jumper, effortess,” Alan says. “She’s better over fences than she is over hurdles.”

Alan tips his cap to Dermot and all his team for the long hours they have put into the mare, especially Mick Molloy who was rewarded with the mount at Wexford last time out. “I also have to thank my close friend Liam Keogh in Rathmolyon,” Alan adds. “Liam whipped in for the Taras for years and he has always guided me in racing.”