Whilst many are exciting recent additions to the stallion ranks whose progency has yet to see competitive action, racing between the flags in recent times has highlighted the value of Mahler and Ocovango.
Notably his other four-year-old winner from the pre-Christmas campaign, Carrolls Cottage, has already opened his account under rules when following up his four-year-old success at Dromahane in October by winning a Limerick maiden hurdle for Philip Fenton by seven lengths last month.
For Ocovango, his first crop of four-year-old’s certainly hit the ground running despite the Covid-19 interruptions to last year’s action, as Glenglass recorded a notable success with a winning debut in one of the first four-year-old races of 2020.
Fittingly bred by the Beeches Stud’s owner Robert McCarthy, it was at their local fixture in Tallow that he recorded a one-length success for Barry O’Neill and Colin Bowe before turning a very notable profit for the Milestone team who had purchased him at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale for €42,000 before selling him to Mouse O’Ryan and Gordon Elliott for £155,000 at the Cheltenham February Sale.
The resumption of point-to-point action continued this good early fortunes, with further successes coming in the four-year-old maiden division courtesy of Comes Recommended at Monksgrange for Matthew Flynn O’Connor and Gordon Elliott’s Percy Warner at Umma House.
The latter, who had been bought for €32,000 at the Goffs Land Rover Sale, was sold to Basil Holian, to stay in the yard for €100,000 at the Tattersalls November Sale.
That proved to be a good move as he has added two further successes to his tally by beating the subsequent Fairyhouse winner Flanking Maneuver with a victorious racecourse debut in a 20-runner Navan maiden hurdle, before doubling up in a Fairyhouse contest earlier this month.
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