IT was a big call by Galway trainer Norman Lee to leave 7lb claimer Robbie Geogeghan on his mare She Is Electric for the Listed Pat Walsh Memorial EBF Mares Novice Hurdle at Gowran last month.

Geoghegan had ridden the seven-year-old to success in her mares’ maiden hurdle earlier in the month, providing Lee, who part owns She Is Electric with Eddie Naughton, with a €5,000 Weatherbys ITBA NH Fillies Bonus. However, the harsh reality is that technically speaking, it makes no sense to book a claiming jockey for your horse in a listed or graded contest, because they are unable to use their claim.

Still, Lee was more than willing to keep the faith with Geoghegan. Going to Gowran, they would have been delighted to finish among the placings, to get blacktype, not least because there was a Willie Mullins-trained favourite, Champagne Problem, to take on.

As it transpired, She Is Electric and Geoghegan never saw another rival from the front, powering home on the yielding surface; now the dream is very much alive.

“Robbie works with us here in the yard every day,” Lee said this week. “He rides her out everyday and he is well used to her. The two of them are kind of similar, they’re tough and happy to get on with things.

“She loves to bowl along and she takes them on and she likes to get on with things. It’s not that she’s mad keen but she likes to get on with it. We’ve run her a couple of times on soft ground and it wasn’t right for her. She’s a way better mare on nice ground, it doesn’t have to be hard but if it’s nice.

“I thought Robbie gave her a great ride at Gowran, probably the best ride he’s ever given a horse. He stayed going strongly from the front and didn’t commit her totally until the last, despite the Mullins mare challenging them.”

She Is Electric and Champagne Problem pulled all of 18 and a half lengths clear of the third horse home, and as Lee points out, the form looks very strong, with the mare in fourth, beaten 35 lengths, coming out and winning since.

The daughter of Jeremy was bought for just €8,200 by Lee but is likely worth a fair bit more than that now. She was due to take her chance at Cheltenham yesterday with a view to a long-term target of the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at the Festival, but she was declared a non-runner before racing began.

Plans

Speaking earlier this week, Lee outlined his plans: “We wanted to see if she could step forward again because we’d love to be bringing her back there in March, but we want her to show us that she can take that step.

“The dream would be to get to the Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle with her and she is possibly only one more win away from that.

“We bought her in the sales and I had her sold a couple of times and no one came up with the money. Then I asked Eddie, and he bought half her with me. We wouldn’t always buy mares, I’ve about 20 to 25 horses but it’s a nice option for owners now - the bonus is a brilliant incentive, the programme is there for them and the dream is there with the race at Cheltenham.

“We’re looking down the road now, hopefully we’ll have a really nice mare. She’s a full sister to a blacktype mare as well, and another horse that is a half-brother has won six so the pedigree has really kicked on since I bought her.

“We wouldn’t usually breed but we have one broodmare this year, I’ve joined in with another fella. But we’ll keep this one for breeding if we don’t get the price of her somewhere along the line. I wouldn’t mind breeding from her, she’s a filly with a good pedigree and she’s blacktype herself so it makes a big difference.”

Lee is best known for his handling of Sole Pretender, a Grade 3 winner who put up a big run to finish third in a novice chase at Cheltenham yesterday. He is having his best season with eight winners already on the board.