Molly pups could end up on same card as dam

Cearns has high hopes for Chisem youngsters

Mother and pups running on the same card is not unusual, but is still a rare occurrence. However, the story of the Ricky Holloway-trained Yankee Molly is a cracker.

Back racing at Hove after whelping an unplanned litter of pups to kennelmate Scaglietti in July 2024 - more on that later - those pups are now at racing-age and two of them, Chisem Emmy and Chisem Amelia, made their debuts at the Sussex venue on Sunday. Chisem Emmy went close to winning first time up in an A11, just edged out by winner Tullymurry Nina, with litter sister Chisem Amelia finishing fourth.

Yankee Molly is still racing, last running over 500m in A8 company earlier this month, with form over 695m, too, so the prospect of her being on the same card as her offspring is real.

The litter are owned by former Central Park promoter Roger Cearns who takes up the story, starting with the fact that the litter was, er, something of a surprise.

“I suppose it was always likely to happen given right from the start Scaglietti was a major ‘talking dog’ - let’s say he had a profile!” explained Cearns of the big-money purchase and one-time Derby contender who never quite fulfilled his potential due to a series of setbacks. “He seemed the centre of attention for many people for a long while and Molly obviously took a shine to him, too!

“They were left alone at the kennels at the wrong time - or right time maybe - and much to everyone’s surprise we had a Yankee Molly, at the time a good stayer who’d run in the Golden Jacket at Crayford and actually reached the semis in 2023, in pup!

“I sent her to Dolores Ruth in Ireland who looked after Molly, whelped down the litter, and then Matty Ryan reared them. Both did a magnificent job and the 11 in the litter - we lost one right at the start - have returned to Ricky and are beginning to hit the track.

“We’ve got six bitches and five dogs and I’ve registered them with the Chisem prefix - an amalgamation of my grandkids’ names - and we’re going to have some fun with them.

“That’s what it’s all about - and it’s just great that Molly is still racing and we could end up with her and the pups on the same card. I suppose it’s not beyond the realms she might race against one or two of them down the line, but she’s a January 2021 and obviously very much in the twilight of her career, so has time between races.

“Either way it's a nice story.”