Relation to Tattersalls Ireland record-breaking colt foal bids to get off the mark in hot Leopardstown maiden hurdle

Our resident bloodstock experts profile the well-bred eyecatchers and expensive purchases set to grace the track.

FOUND A DIAMOND

Savills Maiden Hurdle (12.20 Leopardstown, Saturday)

What's the story?

Found A Diamond, who contests the opening maiden hurdle at Leopardstown on Saturday, is related to the most expensive National Hunt colt foal sold in Ireland, the €170,000 half-brother to triple Cheltenham Gold Cup hero Best Mate who was hammered down to Highflyer Bloodstock at the 2007 edition of the Tattersalls Ireland November Sale.

Found A Diamond is trained by Ross O’Sullivan, and the mount of 7lb claimer Tom Harney. The same rider partnered him on his debut at Punchestown last month, when he showed a little more promise in sixth than his odds of 50-1 implied he was likely to.

How's he bred?

Found A Diamond is, as his name suggests, by Diamond Boy, the Kilbarry Lodge resident who is sire of, among others, Impaire Et Passe, who also runs on Saturday, in his case in the deeper waters of the Grade 1 novice chase at Limerick, and L’Homme Presse, who was a very decent third in the King George VI Chase on Thursday.

Found A Diamond is out of the Bob Back mare Katmai, a winning half-sister to the aforementioned record-breaking Tattersalls Ireland colt foal, who was named Nitrogen and didn’t have the best of luck in a short career for Harry Fry.

Their dam Katday, by Miller’s Mate, had by then already found fame as the dam of Best Mate, not to mention his full-brothers Cornish Rebel, the Grade 1 Challow Hurdle winner, and Inca Trail, a prolific winner and Grade 2-placed. They were all by Un Desperado, while another half-brother, Inexorable (Roselier) was a dual Grade 3 winner and also Grade 2-placed.

Best Mate leads over the last in the 2004 Gold Cup; the triple winner of the race is a half-brother to Found A Diamond's damCredit: Edward Whitaker

Found A Diamond is a half-brother to two Jamie Snowden winners in College Oak (Norse Dancer) and Double Click (Flemensfirth); the latter finished a never-nearer fifth at Chepstow on Friday.

Found A Diamond was also sold as a foal at the Tattersalls Ireland November Sale, in his case for €15,000, and most recently went through the ring at the Goffs Arkle Sale last summer, when Tommy Goodwin was the buyer at €14,000.

Who does he face?

It is a pretty decent maiden hurdle, as you’d expect at the Leopardstown Christmas meeting, and the Willie Mullins-trained €90,000 Arkle store sale purchase Kalix Delabarriere must have a shout having landed a bumper at Ballinrobe in the spring on his only start to date.

So too will his JP McManus-owned stablemate Kaid D’Authie, who was 1-3 for a Navan maiden hurdle this month but left his supporters with burnt fingers when falling at the fifth. He was a couple of lengths ahead at the time. 

The Gordon Elliott-trained Sermandzarak was another sold at the Goffs Arkle last June, in his case for €80,000. He has been busier, winning two Punchestown bumpers and then finishing a close second at Punchestown last month to Butch Cassidy, the race in which Found A Diamond was sixth.

Also of interest is Koktail Divin. From the Henry de Bromhead stable, he was last seen winning an AQPS conditions event on the Flat at Le Lion-D’Angers on April 1. That may have been Fool’s Day but owner Barry Maloney doesn’t take on any old pony, his silks having been carried to big-race success by the likes of Minella Indo and Monalee, so this one could be dangerous too.

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