Breeding career awaits Lady Buttons after retirement announcement

Lady Buttons, not only one of the most outstanding National Hunt mares of recent seasons but a true success story for Yorkshire, is set for a breeding career after trainer Phil Kirby announced her retirement from the track.

Now ten, she was owned and bred by Keith and Jayne Sivills, who had bought her dam Lady Chapp in foal to Beneficial the summer prior to her birth. She was with Kirby throughout her career and finished up the winner of 15 of her 33 career starts with total prize money of more than £292,000.

Her exploits secured the Sivills the TBA’s Distillery Stud Trophy for leading chase mare for three consecutive years, most recently for last season when she landed not only a Listed hurdle at Wetherby but the Silver Vase Mares' Chase in a titanic battle with Happy Diva and La Bague Au Roi as well as the Grade 2 Yorkshire Rose Mares' Hurdle at Doncaster.

It had been her trainer’s plan to aim for the same races until she had a minor setback over the weekend.

"She worked on Saturday and probably did as good a piece of work as she’s ever done, everything was great, I just went to take her out on Sunday morning and there was just a little bit of heat [in a leg], enough to have a chat with Keith and Jayne and say 'is this time to pull the plug now' and that’s what we decided to do," Kirby told Sky Sports Racing.

Lady Buttons earned multiple TBA awards for breeders Jayne and Keith SivillsCredit: Sarah Farnsworth / Goffs UK

"It’s great that they’re brave enough to do it and we can look forward to her being in foal.

"I think she got sent to us just after she was born so we’ve had her all the way through, we know her really really well, and Keith and Jayne bred her so the plan was that when the time was that she’d had enough, that was it, and that was the most important thing."

Lady Chapp, by High Chaparral out of an Ahonoora mare, is registered as being taken out of service as a broodmare but Kirby has two more of her progeny, both of which were bred by him.

He added: "Lady Buttons will be very hard to replace and whether she breeds one as good as herself we don’t know but that was always the plan with her.

"She’s got a couple of younger brothers, one by Robin Des Champs (Robin Des Chapp) who had one run just before lockdown and there’s one by Presenting who is a lovely good type. If they’re anything like her, we’ll be alright."

Her popularity in the sport saw Lady Buttons gather quite a fan club and Kirby picked the battling victory on Town Moor as his favourite memory.

Lady Buttons and Phil Kirby have been a great team

"Very few horses could get her off the bridle when she was on her game and her jumping of a fence was probably second to none," he said. "She was so versatile I could pick and choose the races as they turned up.

"She was just naturally quite good and she knew it."

Kirby later confirmed to the Racing Post that Lady Buttons would remain at his Green Oaks Farm in retirement. "We breed a few and have mares and foals on the place, so that’s the plan," he said, adding that while no decisions on a stallion had been made, the owners were "on it now".

More to read...

Con Te Partiro heading straight for the Keeneland ring after racing retirement

Churchill filly tops annual SGA Yearling Sale at €120,000

Mixed emotions as Trevor Hemmings dispersal sees a £140,000 top lot