Big-race glory helping Dan and Elaine Breen enjoy their finest hour

By The Hour has provided moments of excitement spread out over slightly more generous intervals these last few months with the exploits of her first two foals.

Through the last National Hunt season her flag has been flown by Marie’s Rock, the winner of the keynote mares’ events at the Cheltenham and Punchestown festivals.

Now that summer has returned, her initial foal Arcadian Sunrise has returned to the fray for John Queally, having landed a valuable Galway Hurdle consolation prize and the Sky Bet Handicap at York’s Ebor meeting during 2021. He finished a fine fourth in Friday’s Chester Cup.

For Dan and Elaine Breen, who are small and predominantly National Hunt oriented breeders based just outside Cashel in County Tipperary, the rare opportunity of being associated with a live contender for the Mares’ Hurdle was not one to be missed.

While Marie’s Rock, who had suffered a stop-start time of things with Nicky Henderson after sweeping up to Listed level with easy victories on her first three starts in 2019, did not want for support with those involved in Middleham Park Racing receiving the sort of golden tickets that any syndicate owner dreams of, she had plenty more unaffiliated members along for the ride.

"We travelled over purely on account of the mare running there, a group of nine of us went!" explained Elaine. "We’d organised to go over two years ago when she was favourite for the mares’ novice race but then unfortunately she sustained an injury so we abandoned our plans too."

The seven-year-old had been able to have been given a more testing campaign during the season, gathering another black type event at Warwick on her fifth start back during the middle of February. Her strong charge under Nico de Boinville as an 18-1 chance for Grade 1 glory was, nonetheless, by some way her biggest achievement so far.

Nico de Boinville celebrates Marie's Rock winning the Coolmore Kew Gardens EBF Mares Champion Hurdle at PunchestownCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"It was so exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time," Elaine continues. "We always knew what she was capable of and wanted her to run well but when we saw her in the pre-parade ring and how calm she was we knew there was no stopping her.

"Credit has to go to Mr Henderson and the team for getting her back in the right headspace so to see her fulfil her potential and to be there to witness it and meet her afterwards was fantastic."

"It’s kind of a lifetime ambition isn’t it, breeding a Grade 1 mare," Dan adds. "We’ve had loads of winners but nothing like her, she really brought it to a whole new level."

Dan Breen’s mainstay is as a farrier and the couple’s operation is more of a sideline, pinhooking a few jumps-bred foals to sell further down the line alongside a very small handful of broodmares.

By The Hour, from solid if unspectacular female family, was trained by the soon-to-be-retired Robert Tyner and was produced to win an Irish point on her second start under Derek O’Connor in 2007. She would strike three more times under rules, including in a handicap chase at Leopardstown and also appeared at a handful of the showpiece meetings.

"I actually saw her advertised in the Irish Field, believe it or not," Dan Breen explains. "She had just finished racing, a syndicate owned her and wanted to sell. She was a big, good-looking Flemensfirth, and a black type mare, so it made sense. I just went down and looked at her in Cork, did a deal there and then, got the box and went straight back down for her."

Arcadian Sunrise made €16,000 when sold as a foal at the Tattersalls Ireland November National Hunt Sale while Marie’s Rock was kept until she was three, reaching what the Breens felt was a reasonable €35,000 when purchased by Middleham Park and Highflyer Bloodstock at the 2018 Goffs Land Rover, considering she was on the small side.

After a bit more expansion of the page, a Beat Hollow sibling ticked up to €62,000 at last year’s Land Rover.

"We’re looking forward to him, he’s in Jonjo O’Neill’s and is a lovely horse actually. Fingers crossed for him now," Dan Breen explains.

"The mare’s got a good record now and we’re just trying to get her back in foal at the minute, to Poet’s Word.

"She has a two-year-old Yeats horse, a gelding, at home, and she’s good and healthy. She had a few problems last year but we think we have her sorted."

By The Hour (centre) was a useful jumping mare herselfCredit: Caroline Norris (racingpost.com/photos)

The set-up, which has been developing through the last decade, has had a couple more wins this year through Jeremy Scott’s Kissesforkatie, a Jeremy mare who had an unfortunate mishap running out at a rail when seemingly fancied for a Listed hurdle at Cheltenham’s April meeting.

The burgeoning career of By The Hour, though, is something that breeders of all levels would aspire to, let alone when you only have three or four.

"By the Hour is an amazing mare," says Elaine Breen. "She’s queen of the yard here!"

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