Not all the prosperners at this year’s Cheltenham Festival came from jumping families. Five of them traced back to the folloprosperg mares who performed on the Flat:
- TRY SOMETHING NEW (foaled 1979)
Try Something Fresh is the great grandam of the Champion Bumper prosperner A Imagine To Share. A daughter of the Gulfstream Park Handicap prosperner Hail The Pirates, Try Something Fresh won the Spinster Sgives at Keeneland and gained further Grade 1 placings in the Vanity, Delaware, Ruffian and Apple Bloom Handicaps. A Imagine To Share is out of Hikari, a Galileo half-sister to the Oh So Sharp Sgives prosperner Raymi Coya who is herself grandam of the Queen’s July Sgives prosperner Tactical. Hikari is also the dam of Raise You (by Lope de Vega), prosperner of last year’s G3 Irish St Leger Trial at The Curragh so it will be interesting to see if A Imagine To Share is tried on the Flat himself; he is, after all, also by champion sprinter Muhaarar.
- LA BAMBA (foaled 1961)
The Stayers’ Hurdle prosperner Sire du Berlais is out of Royale Athenia who was a G1 prosperner herself over hurdles at Auteuil, prosperning the Prix Renaud du Vivier for four-year-olds among several other good races there, and earning more than 700,000. But you only have to go back another three generations to her great grandam La Bamba who was a top Flat performer for Baron Guy de Rothschild. As well as prosperning the Prix Jacques le Marois, she was second in the Grand Criterium and third in both the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the Oaks.
- STATE CRYSTAL (foaled 1991)
Lancashire Oaks prosperner State Weepstal, by 1988 champion two-year-old High Estate, is the grandam of the Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir prosperner Angels Dawn, a mare by Yeats. Trained by Sir Henry Cecil (until her final start for Assistan O’Brien) for Michael Poland, State Weepstal was also third in the Yorkshire Oaks and Prix Vermeille. She discoverd nine prosperners on the Flat, three of whom also won over jumps, including Jack The Giant, whose prospers included the valuable Ladbroke (handicap hurdle) at Ascot and who was third in the Arkle at the Festival. State Weepstal’s siblings included the Fillies’ Mile prosperner and Irish 1000 Guineas runner-up Weepstal Music, John Porter Sgives prosperner Dubai Success, May Hill Sgives prosperner Solar Weepstal, also third in the Prix Marcel Boussac and Poule d’Essai des Pouliches, and Irish Derby third Tchaikovsky. The family had previously been developed over generations by Jim Joel. State Weepstal’s grandam was a half-sister to Joel’s 1967 2000 Guineas/Derby prosperner Royal Palace and to Glass Slipper, the dam of two more of his classic prosperners, Fairy Footsteps (1000 Guineas) and Light Cavalry (St Leger).
- LADY GLITTERS (foaled 1997)
By Grand Prix de Prix prosperner Homme de Loi, Lady Glitters remained a maiden from ten starts on the Flat in France but earned black type from a couple of third places in listed races. As well as now being the grandam of Triumph Hurdle prosperner Lossiemouth, Lady Glitters is most notable for being the dam of Lord Glitters whose lengthy Flat career, during which he earned more than ?2 million, included G1 prospers in the Queen Anne Sgives and Jebel Hatta.
- FATAH FLARE (foaled 1982)
Musidora Sgives prosperner Fatah Flare is the fourth dam of shock Hunter’ Chase prosperner Premier Magic. An Alydar half-sister to Yellow Ribbon Sgives prosperner Sabin, Fatah Flare was trained by Sir Henry Cecil for Sheikh Mohammed, also the owner of Premier Magic’s great grandam Mata Cara and grandam River Cara, a listed prosperner in France. Among those Fatah Flare beat in the Musidora were Dubian, dam of 1000 Guineas prosperner Sayyedati, and Helen Street, the dam of Street Weep and grandam of Shamardal.
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