'It’s a safe bet he’ll do brisk business again this year at his private fee'

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Here he takes a look at Blue Bresil, the sire of impressive Tolworth Hurdle winner Constitution Hill, and his career to date - subscribers can get more great insight from Martin every Monday to Friday.

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Blue Bresil, the source of Saturday’s impressive Tolworth Novices' Hurdle winner Constitution Hill, has followed an eerily similar career path to another in-form sire discussed in Good Morning Bloodstock in recent weeks.

Malinas, whose son Master McShee won the Faugheen Novice Chase over Christmas, spent his first six seasons of his stallion career in France before being sent to Yorton Farm on the back of promising results from his early crops.

After four years standing at Yorton Farm, Malinas was snapped up by Glenview Stud in Ireland, which led to the British operation gaining the services of Blue Bresil, who had also stood his first six years in France, as a replacement.

Blue Bresil also spent four seasons at Yorton Farm before joining Glenview Stud, where he and Malinas were studmates for two years until Malinas's recent switch to Coolagown Stud.

Blue Bresil, whose French crops have yielded the top-notch French hurdler L’Autonomie, Grade 1-winning hurdler Mick Jazz and high-class chasers Le Prezien and Royal Pagaille, also looks to be emulating the sterling service Malinas provided to British breeders.

Constitution Hill is one of five winners under rules in Britain and Ireland among the 94 five-year-olds who make up the son of Smadoun’s first crop conceived at Yorton Farm.

The others are Island Run, who was sent out by Philip Hobbs to win a Wincanton maiden hurdle on Saturday; Puffin Bay, who has scored in a Stratford mares' bumper and Wincanton mares' maiden hurdle for Oliver Sherwood; and Kracka Nut and Redemption Day, emphatic bumper winners at Catterick and Leopardstown for Dan Skelton and Willie Mullins last month.

Intriguingly, Blue Bresil has one French-bred five-year-old, in Ecurie des Mottes’ homebred AQPS filly Honda Des Mottes, who is jointly owned by her trainer Francois Nicolle. In a turn of events typical of the Gallic National Hunt scene, she won over hurdles at Toulouse on her debut in the June of her three-year-old season.

There must be more winners under rules among the Blue Bresil five-year-olds on the horizon, too, as seven of them have finished placed including Blue Heaven and Commodore Miller, stablemates of Constitution Hill with Nicky Henderson.

Another placed performer who has made a splash is Arctic Bresil, who ran second between the flags at Tattersalls Farm for Sean Doyle in November before topping that month’s Tattersalls Cheltenham Sale when knocked down to Gerry Hogan for €305,000.

Constitution Hill: Grade 1-winning son of Blue Bresil and Goffs UK graduateCredit: Edward Whitaker

It might be deemed unusual for a non-winner to top a boutique jumps sale but Constitution Hill is a very good advertisement for a placed pointer, as he ran second at Tipperary’s point-to-point course for Donnchadh Doyle last April before selling to Henderson for £120,000 at the Goffs UK Spring Sale.

Arctic Bresil and Constitution Hill are among four of Blue Bresil’s five-year-olds to have acquitted themselves well in point-to-points before being sold for six-figure sums.

Inthepocket, successful at Moig South for Glenview Stud’s Paul Cashman, was bought by Michael Hyde for £290,000 at the Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale last month. Six days later Madmansgame, who had been sent out by Donnchadh Doyle to win at Boulta, was bought by Willie Mullins for 250,000gns in an online sale held by Tattersalls.

Blue Bresil’s popularity has inevitably translated into strong demand for his younger progeny, too. Tom Malone and Paul Nicholls paid €120,000 for his top-priced store, a gelding out of the Grade 2-placed hurdler Mickie, at the Tattersalls Ireland Derby Sale, while Aiden and Olly Murphy gave €115,000 for a half-brother to The Two Amigos at the company’s May Store Sale and Highflyer Bloodstock signed at €110,000 for a half-brother to Warriors Tale at the Goffs Land Rover Sale.

Blue Bresil has 93 four-year-olds, 77 three-year-olds and 107 two-year-olds, and he has covered books of 191 and 215 in his first two seasons at Glenview Stud. It’s a safe bet he’ll do brisk business again this year at his private fee.

That's not bad going for a horse who didn’t manage a black-type victory in his own racing career, though he did hold the unusual distinction of being both Group 2-placed on the Flat in two French Derby trials, the Prix Noailles and Prix Hocquart, and Grade 2-placed over hurdles at Auteuil.

There are of course two sides to every pedigree, though, and there is also lots of quality to be found in Constitution Hill’s distaff family.

He was bred by Sally Noott out of Queen Of The Stage, a daughter of the exceptional jumps sire King’s Theatre who won twice over hurdles and recorded a peak RPR of 126 for finishing third to Uranna in the Listed Jane Seymour Mares’ Novices’ Hurdle at Sandown.

King’s Theatre is most famously the broodmare sire of Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Bobs Worth, and he has also made his mark in this department this season through Rowland Meyrick Handicap Chase scorer Good Boy Bobby and Donald McCain’s prolific winner Minella Trump.

Constitution Hill’s page is not exactly chock-a-block with black type, but there is something about it you don’t see every day: his first four dams are all by champion jumps sires in Britain and Ireland on multiple occasions, namely King’s Theatre, Supreme Leader, Strong Gale and Deep Run.

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Must-read story

“His mother’s quite quirky really, she frets a bit more, but everything she’s produced seems so laid-back,” says Sally Noott as she talks about Constitution Hill’s family characteristics.

Pedigree pick

The famous pink and white silks of Normandie Stud are seldom seen in the National Hunt sphere but they will make a rare appearance in the mares’ bumper at Ludlow (3.45) on Monday.

The operation’s Philippa Cooper was keen to secure a filly from the final crop of the late, legendary upgrading sire Midnight Legend, and so You Wear It Well was bought by Stroud Coleman Bloodstock on her behalf for £70,000 as a three-year-old store at Doncaster.

You Wear It Well could run well on her debut for Jamie Snowden. Not only is she by a sire with a good record in bumpers, but her half-sisters Schiaparannie and Fingareeta both won bumpers (albeit at the second time of asking in both cases) and another half-brother, Prince Kayf, scored in a point-to-point on his first start.

The siblings were bred by Reg and Jane Makin out of Annie’s Answer, a daughter of Flemensfirth who won a pair of bumpers and later took the scalp of Gaspara to land a Listed mares’ hurdle at Wetherby.

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Good Morning Bloodstock is our latest email newsletter. Martin Stevens, a doyen among bloodstock journalists, provides his take and insight on the biggest stories every morning from Monday to Friday