Meet the small breeder who bought into Godolphin's most upwardly mobile family for buttons

Good Morning Bloodstock is the Racing Post's daily morning email and presented online as a sample.

Here he speaks to full-time engineer and part-time breeder Christy Behan about his mare with a blossoming pedigree – subscribers can get more great insight every Monday to Friday.

All you need do is click on the link above, sign up and then read at your leisure each weekday morning from 7am.

A powerful new dynasty is emerging at Godolphin. Minidress, a Listed-placed daughter of Street Cry and the high-class racemare Short Skirt, is the dam of two Group/Grade 1 winners – Breeders’ Cup Turf hero Rebel’s Romance and last Friday’s easy Jebel Hatta scorer Measured Time – as well as the useful filly Petticoat from just four offspring to have raced.

Sheikh Mohammed’s operation is consequently putting a lot of faith in this family, and valuable resources into nurturing it.

Minidress, still only 15 years old, has a Dubawi yearling colt and was covered by the Dalham Hall Stud-based breed-shaper again last year, and Petticoat has a three-year-old filly by Dubawi and a two-year-old colt and yearling filly by Night Of Thunder. She also visited Dubawi again in 2023.

Dubai Beauty, a winning Frankel full-sister to Measured Time, meanwhile got her broodmare career off to the perfect start when her first offspring, the three-year-old Dubawi gelding Silent Age, scored on debut for Charlie Appleby at Kempton on Saturday.  

She has a two-year-old colt by Siyouni and a yearling filly by Too Darn Hot, and was yet another member of the family to grace Dubawi’s court last year.

Rebel's Romance: Breeders' Cup Turf hero leads the way for his dam MinidressCredit: Edward Whitaker

This is clearly a pedigree on the up, chock-full of promising young mares who are being covered by top of the range sires, with the produce generally going into the leading stables. We should hear a lot more from it in the near future.

Unsurprisingly, then, Godolphin have closely guarded the female members of this family, choosing not to sell Minidress’s daughters or granddaughters.

All except one, that is.  

For Godolphin sold Minidress’s unraced second foal Silver Moon, a filly by blue-chip sire Exceed And Excel, for just €12,000 at the Goffs November Breeding Stock Sale of 2019, when Petticoat was already Listed-placed and Dubai Beauty was already a winner, but Rebel’s Romance was an unnamed yearling and Measured Time was still being carried by his mother.

The then four-year-old Silver Moon was being offered in foal for the first time to Dawn Approach, a sire who didn’t eventually set the world alight but whose covering fee that season was more than the cost of the mare.

Minidress: dam of Rebel's Romance, Measured Time and Dubai Beauty powers to a Newmarket maiden successCredit: Mark Cranham

The beneficiary of Godolphin’s decision to offload Silver Moon was Christy Behan, a full-time engineer and part-time breeder based in County Kildare.

“I’d marked down four or five mares in the catalogue that I was interested in and went to look at, and she wasn’t one of them,” he says. “But it turned out that I couldn’t afford the ones I had on my shortlist; they went out of my budget.  

“I was sitting there in the auditorium, about to go home empty handed, when the auctioneer Andrew Nolan started talking up the mare who was in the ring, saying the dam had a lot to run for her and her Dubawi yearling was about to go into training with Charlie Appleby, and it drew my attention to her.

“So I sat back down and took a bit more interest. I hadn’t seen her outside, I hadn’t seen her in her box, I hadn’t seen her walking, I only saw her there and then in the ring. She looked a bit big but I thought sure look, her page has a lot going for it, so she’s worth a chance. Bidding opened at about six or eight thousand. I had a budget of ten, and I ended up giving 12 for her.”

After Behan had signed the ticket for Silver Moon he went to take a closer look at his impulse purchase back at her stable. He admits now to a touch of buyer’s remorse.

Profit Refused: daughter of Silver Moon struck in a Roscommon auction series maiden last summer

“I proceeded to see what I was after buying, and when I got to the box and saw how large she was, I said to myself, ‘Wow, how on earth am I going to get you out of here?'" he recalls. “But myself and a friend got her loaded up and took her home, and I haven’t looked back since.”  

Indeed, it might not have been love at first sight, but Behan soon developed a deep affection for Silver Moon. Especially when it turned out that her beautiful pedigree was not only ornamental, but also of use, as she started producing winners.Behan says: 

“The Dawn Approach colt she was carrying was sold and went into training with George Scott and won a few races, so that got us up and running, but then more importantly her second foal by Profitable, a good, speedy stallion there was a lot of talk about at the time, was a filly I got €22,000 for at the sales.

“Kevin Prendergast trains her and owns her with Jim Bolger. They called her Profit Refused and she ran very well to finish third in her first race at Limerick last year. She was hampered by the horse on her inside and lost a couple of lengths and should have won. I was there screaming as loud as I could for her but she couldn’t hear me, unfortunately!

“But she ran well so I was happy really, and there was some talk afterwards that she wasn’t too bad. Then the filly who won the race, Snellen, went on to win the Chesham Stakes at Royal Ascot.  

Measured Time after winning the Jebel HattaCredit: ABDALLA KHALIFA

“Profit Refused won second time out, easily beating a good colt called Megarry who also went on to win a Listed race, and that was another little bit of a marker that she might be all right. She’s still with Kevin Prendergast and I know they think a lot of her.”

Bargain buy Silver Moon is therefore not only from one of the most upwardly mobile families in the studbook, but also two out of two as a producer, with collateral form lines suggesting one of her winners might be something special.

Sadly, though, she had rotten luck with her third foal, a Dandy Man colt born last year.

“He was the strongest and best looking foal I’ve ever had,” says Behan. “But at two months old he got a colic. I took him into the vets and after a week and three operations they had to put him down. I lost a fantastic foal there.”  

More happily, however, the mare is now “heavy in foal” to Space Blues.

Silver Moon is now carrying to Kildangan Stud's Space BluesCredit: ©INPHO/Morgan Treacy

“That’s my Silver Moon,” adds Behan with justifiable pride. “She’s a beautiful mare – a lovely, big, strong individual. She’s grown on me a lot over the years. In the beginning I thought Jesus, what am I after buying? She’s had her moments but she’s quietened down into a big pet, really.

“She stayed with me and I stayed with her. She’s an absolute beaut. I’m very proud of my story, and very proud of her. Things like that don't happen every day.”

Behan clearly holds a strong attachment to Silver Moon, but he now has potentially a highly valuable commodity on his hands. So has he considered selling her for profit?  

“Now that’s the million dollar question,” he says. “What do you do with a mare like her? I’m not out there advertising her for sale but if a fella came around the corner with enough money I’d be a fool not to speak to him.”

How much money constitutes ‘enough money’ could go up and up if the family continues on its steep upward curve.

Measured Time is bound for Dubai World Cup night next month, Rebel’s Romance could collect more big prizes this year, and one or two of those well bred youngsters out of Minidress and her daughters could have some decent races in them.

Then there's Silver Moon’s own contribution to family fortunes, the sneakily promising Profit Refused. She could help make it profit accepted for Behan, if he chooses to sell the dam.  

What do you think?

Share your thoughts with other Good Morning Bloodstock readers by emailing gmb@racingpost.com

Must-read story

“He's not the first European Classic winner to stand in Spain,” reports Rafael Rojano of Stamina Turf as Derby victor Ruler Of The World moves studs across the Mediterranean.  

Pedigree pick

A well bred aunt and niece make their debuts in the bumper for fillies and mares at Wincanton on Thursday (4.45).

The Nicky Henderson-trained five-year-old Notorious Pink is by the late French champion National Hunt sire Martaline out of the Hernando mare One Gulp, a Listed-winning hurdler and three-parts sister to Grand National hero Rule The World and half-sister to classy hurdler Venalmar.

That makes Notorious Pink a half-sister to six winners including One For The Team, who finished in the money in the Persian War Novices’ Hurdle and Worcester Novices’ Chase, and Two Swallows, a smart handicap hurdler and Listed-placed novice chaser.

Running against Notorious Pink on Thursday is I’ve Madeupmymind, a Blue Bresil four-year-old filly who is the first foal out of that classy Kayf Tara mare Two Swallows. She is trained by Ben Pauling for owner-breeder Carolyn Waters.