Breeding Ground - 9 July 2025

Breeding Ground

If you were making a case for Ireland’s outstanding dam this year, you would struggle to make a better case than for Whitings Gift. 

So far this year, her son Seven Beach (by Pestana) has won the Gold Cup and Champion Stakes at Shelbourne Park, the Select Stakes at Waterford and the Race Of Champions at Tralee. 

Another son, Born Racer (by Ballymac Anton) won the Supersprint at Cork and daughter Shebetheone (by Ballymac Wild) won the Puppy Oaks. 

But it wasn’t a one-off. Last year, Born Racer won the Fair Warrior Sprint. Scooby Duchess (by Droopys Sydney) was the Irish Oaks runner-up for a second time and the previous year, her brother Scooby Prince was a Kirby finalist. 

Gift’s UK racers include Champion Stakes finalist Nowitsmyturn (from the Pestana litter) and Gold Cup finalist Whitings New Era (from the Sydney litter). 

The assumption might be that Whitings Gift either had a glorious racing career in Ireland or was kept back as a treasured brood. 

In fact, originally named The Other Pearl (Scolari Me Daddy-Mountaylor Queen) Gift was bred by Jennifier O’Donnell and was briefly trained by Kirsty Grayson, going out of the Henlow Maiden Derby first round. 

She then enjoyed a brief but promising career of a 11 races with Derek Knight which included a couple of sprint and one 491m open win at Central Park. 

It was that premature injury – she was less than two and a half – which led to early retirement to the breeding kennels and that mating to Droopys Sydney. 

One month after the Sydney litter was born, Jennifer whelped down Mountaylor Queen’s fourth litter. They were by Ballymac Best and included the Irish Derby winning brothers Born Warrior and The Other Kobe. 

One final twist to the tale. At the weekend, the GBGB Calendar recorded the exploits of the member of the family who is only mentioned in whispers. 

The unfortunately named Born To Star, a litter brother to Shebetheone, was confirmed for a second yellow card for deliberate interference. 

Proof once again that the line between competitive brilliance and overstepping the mark isn’t always huge. 

Just ask Nick Savva about Westmead Hawk and his litter brother (the barely whispered) Westmead Buzzard. 

Last Friday’s Coronation Cup winner was the British bred Fabulous Sonique. 

Any follower of Dave Firmager’s breeding will know that he has scoured the world in pursuit of the fastest dam lines and Dave’s ‘Fabulous’ mums are from a variety of different sources. 

In Fabulous Sonique’s case, the line traces back through Jim and Shari-Anne O’Donnell’s brood Little Flutter. 

We stopped at four generations of the dam chart but given sufficient space and time could have expanded the graph to fill any computer screen with Little Flutter being a daughter of Any Time Soon thus making her a half sister to the likes of Windy Millar, Barnfield Brook and Jemmy Doodlebeag. 

Go back further and we return to ‘The Other’ O’Donnells’ breeding, Jennifer’s parents, Matt and Frances and further then to Alice Swaffields British bred Irish St. Leger winner Batties Spirit.