Verdana Blue all set to get the Tattersalls December Mares' Sale jumping

Every year the Tattersalls December Mares' Sale catalogue is a treasure trove of Flat Group 1 winners and producers, or unproven fillies who have the credentials to become such; but Tuesday's action will feature a rare appearance by a jumps Grade 1 winner.

Crimbourne Bloodstock is selling its Christmas Hurdle heroine Verdana Blue as lot 1,764 either to continue her racing career or go into the breeding shed.

The seven-year-old daughter of Getaway is no impostor in an elite Flat auction, though, because as well as being sent out by Nicky Henderson to win eight races in the jumps sphere, including the Elite Hurdle and Scottish Champion Hurdle, she also took a Chelmsford novice stakes over 13 and a half furlongs and was a Listed runner-up over 12 furlongs at Kempton.

On her last start she was a very respectable fourth, having found trouble in running, behind Dee Ex Bee in the Sagaro Stakes at Ascot.

Explaining why Verdana Blue is being offered in the December Sale, Crimbourne Bloodstock's Charlie Parker said: “She's obviously been a brilliant National Hunt horse but she's also shown herself to be talented on the Flat, so she's definitely a nice breeding prospect.

“I breed horses but Stewart Williams and Philip Martin, my partners in the mare, have no interest in breeding so the easiest thing to do is to put her on the market.

“But she's also still raceable – she's fit and ready to run – so she could defend her crown in the Christmas Hurdle. She's a unique mare and because of her dual-purpose quality we just thought this would be a good sale for her. We'll see how the market takes her.”

Parker reported that, unsurprisingly, the mare had been kept busy during showings. “She's been very popular,” he said. “She's had lots of vets.”

There will be mixed feelings if all that interest in Verdana Blue results in her leaving Parker and his friends' ownership.

“She's a gorgeous mare, but we do have four other Getaway fillies with Nicky Henderson, all in partnership, so it's not like we're out of the game,” said Parker. “We just think she needs to be bred from, for the good of the breed.

“She's a horse of a lifetime and we've had some great horses in the past, such as the Grand National winner Seagram and some proper Flat horses like Indian Lodge, but for me she's been the most brilliant horse to carry the Crimbourne colours.

“If she sells on Tuesday and she goes to a great home, that'll be fantastic, but if we don't get the price we want we'll be happy to go to Kempton on Boxing Day and win the Christmas Hurdle again!”

Whatever Verdana Blue makes at Tattersalls on Tuesday, and whoever takes her home, we can be sure this won't be the last we hear of her, either for her exploits on the racecourse or in the breeding shed.

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