Over the past week, trainer David Evans has sent out 10 runners with six returning as winners, including all four of his starters on Friday evening. Though the impressive climb of the Wokingham S. winner Rohaan (Ire) (Mayson {GB}) may have grabbed plenty of headlines, one of his stable-mates who is equally deserving of plenty of attention is the juvenile filly Choux (Ire) (Exceed And Excel {Aus}).
On the face of it, her story looks pretty straightforward. Choux was clearly so fancied by some on debut that she was the subject to the biggest betting plunge of the season when leaving the paddock at Thirsk as a 40/1 shot and being backed in to 10/3 by the time the stalls opened. She duly obliged on the soft ground that day and went straight to Royal Ascot for the G2 Queen Mary S.
Good to firm ground both there and at Newmarket for the Listed Empress Fillies' S. was not to her liking, but back on very soft turf at Deauville on Sunday, Choux struck with her first black-type victory in the listed Prix Yacowlef.
Her life hasn't always been plain-sailing though, as Choux's co-breeder Mairead O'Grady explains. “We sold her as a foal for €23,000 and then they sent us a video of her windsucking. She was a bit of a surprise boomerang as we certainly hadn't witnessed it at home.”
A Kildare-based vet who specialises in cattle, O'Grady owns broodmares in partnership with fellow vet Adrian McMullan, who owns a mixed veterinary practice in Northern Ireland.
She adds, “It was not what we expected and it was certainly a bit of an ordeal to get her back from the UK. But so bet it: it happens and you just have to take it on the chin and move on, and that's what we did. The yearling sales weren't an option and we chatted to a few people about the breeze-up sales, but in the end Richard Kent was fantastic and he introduced us to Dave and Emma Evans.”
The breeders bought Choux's dam Puff Pastry (GB) (Pivotal {GB}) from Philippa Cooper's Normandie Stud at the December Sale of 2016 for 21,000gns. Now 13, Puff Pastry is a daughter of Soft Centre (GB) (Zafonic), whose half-sister French Dressing (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) is the dam of this season's G3 Hampton Court S. winner Mohaafeth (Ire) (Frankel {GB}).
O'Grady says, “We really wanted to give the mare a chance and we thought to ourselves 'what do we do with an Exceed And Excel yearling standing in the field?'”
They turned to their neighbour Jeremy Maxwell, breeder of Grand National winner Rhyme 'N' Reason (GB), for help in the early stages of the filly's pre-training.
“Jeremy broke her for us because he's local to where the horses are in County Down. He got her started and then Ross Crawford, who wouldn't normally take in a lot of Flat horses, got her riding,” she continues. “I wanted her to go in to Dave's yard knowing everything she had to do, and all they had to do was teach her to run faster. Dave worked away with her and managed to find a buyer for us privately. He and Emma have both been fantastic, and so has Richard, who is a gentleman and has been a huge help and support. For Choux even to become a winner was a great success in itself, but for her to become a listed winner on Sunday was just beyond our expectations altogether.”
The duo sold Puff Pastry's current yearling, a daughter of Ribchester (Ire) at last year's foal sale through Richard Kent's Mickley Stud for 18,000gns, but they now have a wait for the next offspring following yet another reversal.
“Two days before Choux came out at Thirsk we lost Puff's Sioux Nation foal at the foaling,” O'Grady explains. “So that was unfortunate but thankfully the mare was okay. Because she was late we were already going to give her a year off so that's what we've done. She's in great form and is out in the field looking fantastic but sadly we have two years with nothing to sell from her.”
She continues, “It's a family which has had quite a lot of nice fillies which means there are a lot of nice broodmares on the page and a lot of good things are happening. It's great for us to be able to contribute a little bit of black-type to that page now, especially when it didn't come easy. It was a tortuous journey to bounce back from a voided sale to get a listed win in Deauville on Sunday.”
O'Grady and McMullan have three mares “for a bit of fun”, with the other two both being in foal this year.
She says, “Adrian and I worked together in a veterinary practice in the north for a couple of years and that's where I kind of got introduced to horses. It's a hobby and up to now it's paid for itself. It's never made anyone hugely rich but it's fantastic and we do it all ourselves. It teaches you an awful lot.”
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